Radioactive
by Draculaura217
Summary: Anna Crawford knew she was special. After all, being born with strange gifts does that. But when an accidental poisoning happens to Anna, Sam must figure out what she is. But when S.H.I.E.L.D. figures it out, it puts Anna in the spotlight for all sorts of evil. But will Anna be able to control her dark gifts? Or will the darkness take over?
1. Chapter 1

"I didn't do anything, I swear!" Anna said, shaking her hands in the restraints. The floating man weaved back and forth in the air, long tentacles protruding from his back. Her expression went from scared to being horrified. "What are you?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing," the man asked, releasing a robot on Anna. She tensed as it crawled over her. Suddenly, a stabbing pain coursed through her arm, and a vial of blood filled on the bot's back. It slowly returned to the man, who took the vial and placed it into a machine. A face came on a monitor, just as the machine started up. "What excuse do you have for me, Octavius?"

"An apology would suffice, Osborn!" Octavius growled. Sleepiness set in, but her body was fighting it. The man on the screen looked at her. "How are your accommodations, Ms. Crawford?"

"Burn in hell!" Anna spat, but her body gave in, and she started to fall asleep. Octavius was running tests on the blood. As he turned, he noticed the girl slipping out of the restraints. He fixed the girl, and then continued to study the tests. A rumbling shook the lab, and a wall came crumbling down. Anna started to stir.

"You!" Octavius growled, just as a blur of red and blue flew through the air, colliding with him. Other people came in. A girl in white ran to the makeshift lab, scanning the screen. Anna tried adjusting the restraints, making a lot of noise.

The blur crawled onto the ceiling, noticing Anna struggling. He pushed off the ceiling, landing on his feet in front of her. She didn't register. He undid the shackles, and she felt strong arms carry her out. Anna opened her eyes, and a mellow voice assured her, saying, "You are safe now."

Anna let go, falling into unconsciousness. As she did, a voice haunted her thoughts.

"When the heart beats, the threads of the past will come undone. Don't let it beat."

"We found her during the mission, sir." The girl said. "We don't know who she is."

"Put her down, Fist." Someone else ordered. Anna's eyes snapped open.

"W-who are you guys?" She asked, feeling steady ground-or floor beneath her feet. A teen with a helmet approached. "We're just trying to help."

As he came closer, Anna held out a hand. A neon blue light swirled around her hand. The teen stopped, and the blue vanished. The girl took off her mask, hoping that Anna would calm down. "Nova's right. We are just trying to help." she said, holding her hand out. "I'm Ava."

Anna hands ached at her sides. She looked down, and her fingernails grew, sharpening to long points. Cat claws. Ava put her mask back on. "So that's how you play."

Ava lunged, but she passed through smoke. Landing on all fours, she watched as the smoke reformed into the girl. Her claws were gone. But three long claw marks were etched into her face. They knit themselves back together, a scared look on her face. When the marks disappeared, Anna's knees buckled.

"What's wrong?" Nova asked, watching in curiosity as Anna started to claw at her arms. Ava joined him. "It looks like something's rubbing off her skin."

"It looks like a symbol."

"Nice job, webhead. Tell us something we don't know," Ava said sarcastically. "What kind is it, though?"

"It says _Test Subject_. Test subject for what?"

"I don't know, maybe some experiment."

"For what?"

"I keep telling you Peter. _I don't know_."

"Danny, you can read thoughts, right? What's she thinking?"

"I don't know," Danny answered. "It's too confusing. She keeps seeing a room with many different things. Experiments. Then I see running, and ending up here. Everything else she doesn't remember or can't describe. But her thoughts always go straight back to Oscorp."

"Did you at least get her name?"

"I think its Anna."

"Get the hell out of my head!" Anna shouted, sending Danny flying into a wall. And with that, she hit the floor.

"Someone needs to take her home," Ava concluded. "She can't stay here."

"Yes she can."

Everyone turned to the doorway. Fury stood there. "She will stay until we can find out more about her. Now Luke, take her to the infirmary. When she is better, she will train with you. Are we clear?"

"Yes, sir!" Everyone answered, and Anna was taken to the infirmary. But nobody said a word about the test subject symbol. Not a word.

"You do realize what just happened?" Osborn said, noting the trashed appearance of the lab. But he didn't care. "We just lost the one chance we have to catch Subject S. She was the key! But seeing as Spider-Man rescued the girl there is the possibility..."

"She has the nightmares of Oscorp," Octavius mentioned, catching Osborn's attention. "Eventually, she will come back."


	2. Stay

Stay- Rihanna featuring Mikky Ekko

Anna felt herself being shaken. She turned over, hoping that it would be her dear loving Sam. But once again, she was disappointed.

"Chase, get out of my face!" Anna ordered, stretching her arms out. Chase, her adoptive brother, was in her face.

"Mom said get up. Now," Chase relayed with a smug smirk on his face.

Anna rolled her eyes. "For a sixteen year old, you act like you're five." She snorted, laughing as his face reddened.

"And for a seventeen year old, you act like-" Chase stumbled, sticking his tongue out at Anna when she smirked. When he left, Anna threw on a tank top, a pair of black skinny jeans, and matching boots. She grabbed her purse, and then darted out of her room to the kitchen. Her mother was making protein shakes. Anna grabbed hers, and then stepped out into the slightly chilly March air.

The rickety stairs shook beneath her feet. As she walked down the sidewalk, Sam called her, asking her when she'd be there. Anna told him that she was almost there, grabbing a taxi. As it dropped her off at Midtown High, she walked through the office with her visitor's pass. They waved her off, and she navigated the halls to the cafeteria. At the door, she saw Sam, eating with his friends. Anna weaved through the tables, sitting down at the seat specially saved for her.

"So, how's Anna doing?" Sam asked, kissing her cheek. His friend, Luke, was making kissing faces. Danny was silent, eating his lunch.

"Fine," Anna answered, taking a bite of his apple. "Chase is still a pain."

"You okay?"

"Yeah," she sighed, "I'm just a little sick, that's all. The meds from Oscorp are seriously taking a toll on me."

Everyone went silent. Luke and Danny spoke at the same time, "What do you mean 'meds from Oscorp'?"

"Haven't you been listening?" Sam asked sarcastically. Both shook their heads. Anna gave Sam the- _are- they- serious_? Look. Sam nodded.

"I have some weird things going on with my body. So, my mom took me to Oscorp to see if they could figure it out." Anna said, and confused looks crossed everyone's faces. "I thought you knew about this, Sam."

"I did!"

"Well, yesterday, it got worse," Anna complained. "I wanted to read my book, and it just flew into my hands."

"Why would you do that?"

"I wanted to read it, and it just appeared in my hands." Anna checked the clock. "I have to see a specialist in, oh, about ten minutes. I got to go."

"Bye."

Anna left as quickly as she came. The taxi waited for her, and she hopped in. "Oscorp Industries, please."

The taxi pulled up to the front, where she stepped out. The specialist waited outside, and a smile beamed across his face. "Ms. Crawford, so good to see you."

"Doctor Dark, always a pleasure," Anna replied, following him into Oscorp. The people waved to her. When the two made it to the lab, Anna took a seat.

"How are we this week?"

"Well, the symptoms are getting worse," Anna said, explaining the recent events. Dr. Dark recorded these on a clipboard.

"Well, in light of recent events, I am upping your fluroform. To lessen the symptoms." Dr. Dark announced, picking up a needle with a dark substance in it. "We are now up to 500 milligrams of fluroform." He added, flicking the needle. As he approached, Anna held her arm out, and Dr. Dark injected the fluroform. Anna watched as the dark substance coursed through the vein.

"Doctor Dark? What do these symptoms mean?" Anna asked, making the doctor cringe.

"You know I can't discuss that."

"If it's my body, I have a right to know," Anna responded angrily. Dr. Dark sighed.

"Before you were born, your mother was accidentally exposed to a highly experimental substance. It didn't affect her, but it did affect you. You were born, and strange things happened. Strange things I can't explain. But at that moment, your life was put in danger. So your mother signed to have you experimented on, to see what it was you were born with. But they only said one thing: whatever it was, it was, in a way, demonic. That is why you have a tattoo saying you are a test subject; people here don't know what you are.

"There are however, benefits. You have enhanced senses and skills. Your bones are resistant to breaking. Increased muscle mass. Faster reactions in your brain. One could say, if it were possible, that you could do or move things with your mind. Possibilities would be endless. But because of this, your mother could not have any other children. So that's where Chase comes in.

"But anyway, it's time for you to go," Dr. Dark said, motioning to the door. Quietly, Anna left, taking a different cab home. Upon arriving home, her mother threw the door open, looking at Anna. "Where have you been?"

"At Oscorp." Anna answered. "My appointment?"

"Oh," She sighed. "Anywhere else?"

"Uh, yeah, I hung out with Sam at lunch," Anna clarified.

"He's doing okay?"

"Yeah."

Anna paced back to her room, where the door was open. Odd. She never left it open. As she stepped in, the light flicked on, and Sam jumped out from behind the door. "Surprise!"

Anna was genuinely surprised. She looked around the room, and memories of the two were around the room. His jacket that he gave to her, Sam kissing Anna in the photo booth pictures, other memories.

"What are you doing here?" Anna asked. Dropping her voice to a whisper, she said, "My mom doesn't know you're here."

"Don't worry. She knows. It's perfectly fine," Sam said, sitting down on the bed. Anna took a step in, and fell to her knees. Sam jumped off the bed, catching her. "Anna, what's wrong? What's happening?"

"Fluroform," Anna panted, feeling like her heart was being squeezed. Her skin paled, making the sickly green test subject tattoo visible. "They used too much."

"What's this?" Sam asked, noticing the tattoo. Anna was passed out, barely breathing. Speed dialing, he listened to the ringing on the other end.

"Hello?"

"Uh, yeah Pete-" Sam said, "You wouldn't happen to know anything about something called fluroform, would you?"

"All I know is that it's a type of poison. Why?"

"Just get over here," Sam ordered, ending the call. He looked to the window, and Peter was climbing through the window. "You need to help her. Now."

"Sorry Sam, but I can't." Peter apologized. "But maybe Connors can."

Peter pulled out his watch, but his attention was caught on her wrist, where the sickly green tattoo was. "You are caught up with the same girl who attacked us at S.H.I.E.L.D.? That's about as crazy as you trying to get Ava and Danny together, you know that?"

"For your information, they almost did. And if I remember correct, which I do, you witnessed this happening and didn't stop it. At all."

"Touché," Peter commented, explaining the situation to Fury and Connors. Fury promised that people would be over soon, and quickly hung up. Sam held Anna, watching her get paler and paler. The light came on in Peter's head. "Do you like her?"

Sam looked distracted. "What? No. Yes. Maybe. Stop frustrating me!"

"You like her! I'm telling Ava!"

"No, don't. Anna's seriously sick and she doesn't need this now."

"She's not sick. She just passed out from the drugs," Peter said, trying hard not to laugh at the 21 Jump Street reference.

"Piss me off, Parker, and when she wakes up, she will watch me blast your ass to next week," Sam threatened, and Peter went silent. Anna woke up, snuggling into Sam's chest.

"Blast his ass to next week? Smart move. I was starting to get sick of his voice," Anna giggled. Sam tried to stifle a laugh, but failed miserably. Peter's jaw dropped.

"I don't like your girlfriend. She's mean," Peter complained.

Anna scoffed. "Since when did I say I was nice?"

As Peter opened his mouth, the door burst open, and Chase stood in the doorway. "Who are you?"

Anna stood up, bracing against the dresser. "Chase, its fine."

"No, it's not," Chase said, glaring at Sam and Peter. "You're experiencing another fluroform overdose, and I'm worried."

"Another?" Sam asked. "What does he mean _another_?"

"If it's helping, I could really care less."

"Well, you care less, and you might end up dead," Sam told Anna. Furious, Anna left, coming to a stop at the front door. She opened the door, and several people stood in front of her.

"May I help you?" Anna asked, leaning on the door for support. Her legs were going numb.

"Yes, we are looking for a Sam Alexander," the man up front said. Holding his hand out, the man introduced himself. "I am Agent Phil Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D. and we are here on a ca-"

Anna legs went numb, and she fell, but was swept back up into Sam's arms. "I'm here. Let's go," Sam said, making his way out of the apartment. Chase followed him out.

"Where are you taking her?" Chase asked.

"Your sister is going to be placed under care for fluroform poisoning." Coulson told Chase.

"Stay awake, Anna. We'll be there soon," Sam told Anna. Anna grabbed his hand.

"Do me a favor," Anna said. "If I don't wake up, blast Peter in the ass for me. You know, for making my last minutes living and annoying hell."

Sam kissed Anna's forehead. "I promise."

After handing Anna off, Sam waited around for Peter. Peter joined Sam. They just stood around as the plane took off. "I hope Anna's okay," Peter tried making Sam feel better.

"You better," Sam said wistfully. "She said if she didn't make it, she said I retain the right to blast your ass to next week for making her last minutes annoying hell."

"Now I'm hoping she does." Peter said. He wandered off. Sam made his way to the front of the plane, staring out at the clouds.

Coulson came up next to him. "She'll be okay, Sam."

"I hope so."

He stood in the darkness, waiting. A man in an expensive suit approached him, carrying a suitcase. When he caught up to the man, they went inside a club, where the music was quiet. The two took a seat at a table reserved for them. The man placed his suitcase on the table.

"I want her." he told him, his voice breaking.

"I'm Norman Osborn. I believe I have something that might help," Norman said, opening the suitcase. Inside, there were a variety of purple-black weapons. There were throwing stars, daggers, and several other small weapons. He looked at the color.

"This is synthesized demon glass. Not as effective as natural demon glass, but this will do the trick."

"Thank you."

"There is one condition," Norman paused, closing the suitcase. "Before you can have her, you will need to bring her to me. This will give me the opportunity to examine her powers. She is…unique. So it would quite common that I'd request to examine her before I let her to you."

"Of course, Mr. Osborn. Do what you need to do. I don't mind," he said, sliding the suitcase over to his side. He got up, leaving the club without a single word.

Author's Note- To all the readers out there, if you have no idea what fluroform is, you have two options. One, you can look it up, and be completely misleaded. Two, wait for the story to progress. I purposely spelled it that way for a reason. If you look it up, it says something about _**floroform**_ (not fluroform) being a greenhouse gas. That is not at all what fluroform is in this story. So keep that opinion to yourself.

In other words, what do you think? Personally, I think Anna is awesome. Although she is a pain in the ass (yes, I will say that), she is a match for Sam: headstrong, sarcastic, and yet again, sometimes a true pain in the ass. But she is also sweet, caring, and completely loving of all of Sam, even the parts she doesn't really understand. It's my first fan fiction, so if you like it, like it and then proceed to tell others.


	3. First Encounter: Part 1

Sam leaned against the wall, looking through the window to Anna. She slept. Danny passed by, stopping in front of Sam.

"The rain will stop eventually. When it does, the Sun will shine through brighter than ever," Danny said hopefully. Sam shrugged.

"Don't be so sure," Sam said, pushing off the wall. "It's been a month. And on the 1st of April, it'll be her birthday. I'm hoping for a miracle."

"You never know," Danny muttered, "seeing as she's been focused on nothing but you for that long."

"I hope she gets better. I want another girl around," Ava said, grabbing her backpack. Peter wasn't as happy.

"If she doesn't wake up, my ass is grass and Sam and Anna's vengeance is the lawnmower." Peter grumbled.

"I haven't even met this Anna yet and I want her to get better," Luke complained. "She sounds like a nice girl."

As the group left for school, Coulson and Fury were watching the small television on the wall. The news came on, broadcasting Anna's picture all over.

"This is Anna Crawford." J. Jonah Jameson said. "She was last seen at Midtown High near the beginning of March, wearing a purple tank top, black jeans and boots. If you have seen this girl, call the hotline immediately. On to other news-"

Fury switched it off. He shook his head, leaving the infirmary. Coulson stayed for a little longer. He then left too, leaving Anna alone.

Anna's mind played through the memories of Sam. There was the one where she met him, and he accidentally spilled her coffee, giving her his jacket to cover up. Then came the one where he took Anna to Liberty Island on a dare from his group of friends. Countless other memories flooded her mind.

Anna slowly opened her eyes, letting the light come in. She swept her black hair out of her face, reading the clock. It said 12:15 in the afternoon. Anna sat up, taking in the sight. Her hands had needles poking through, heart monitors and other various medical objects. She took the needles out, not feeling any pain. When she realized she was still in her clothes. She wanted to see him.

Anna pulled on her boots, concentrating on Midtown High. She felt a sucking sensation, and ended up in front of Midtown, where rain was pouring down outside. Anna ran inside, her mind stretching the hallway out. She took a turn, and ended up in another hallway. She put her right hand on the wall, running with her hand to the wall. After several minutes of running, Anna's hand hit the cafeteria door. She opened her eyes, and there Sam was, sitting with the others, barely touching his food. She walked in, and other kids stared, pulling out their phones and dialing. Anna ignored them, making her way around the tables. Sam got up, going to dump his food. He heard little whispers, saying, "She's here!"

Sam turned around. Anna was making her way around the table. His eyes went huge. He looked at Danny, who simply nodded at him. Ava's hand went to her mouth in shock. Sam made his way back to their table, where Anna was waiting for him. Anna managed a weak smile. Sam ran over, wrapping his arms around her.

"I missed you," Sam whispered in her ear. She hugged him tighter.

"I missed you too," Anna whispered back. She let go of him. "I'll see you after school," Anna promised, leaving the school. She ran, letting the hit her skin. It felt amazing. The familiar sucking sensation came back, and she ended up back in the infirmary. Coulson stood in front of her. "Where have you been?"

"I went to see Sam," Anna told him, and Coulson frowned.

"You weren't supposed to wake up." Coulson explained. "Director Fury thought you wouldn't."

"Since when did I give a damn what this 'Director Fury' thinks?" Anna asked.

"Since you ended up living here on the Helicarrier."

"Coulson, enough."

A man in an eye patch walked in, excusing Coulson. "Now, Ms. Crawford, I know that Mr. Alexander means something to you-"

"Damn straight he does!"

"-But, you can't just go around flaunting your powers like that."

"What do you mean powers?"

"If you weren't noticing, you turned into smoke and just _appeared _at Midtown High. If I remember correctly, not many do that. So, I'm giving you the opportunity to train with us, so you can control your powers, not let your emotions rule them."

"I will accept."

"We will also grant you protection against the people capable of doing this to you. Believe what you want, but Oscorp medications aren't good for everyone. The ones they gave you nearly killed you."

"Fine, whatever, but I have a question," Anna said, folding her arms. "What exactly is fluroform?"

"We aren't sure," Fury answered. "It looks like liquid demon glass, but it nearly killed you. So we assume that it goes through the bloodstream and basically burns you from the inside. If it affects you this way, we would have no idea what you have that would make this happen."

"That hurts, coming from someone who has a professional opinion. You know, that's what Dr. Dark said to me," Anna commented, catching Fury's attention. "Dr. Dark? Oscorp? Ring a bell?"

"I'll look into it," Fury said, sounding distracted. "Do you know this Dr. Dark's full name?"

"No. His full name wasn't on his tags."

Fury called in an agent to do research. He then turned to me. "When Ms. Ayala gets out of school, she will go with you to your old apartment. Since you are now living here, you will need to get clothes."

"We're home!" Sam called. I turned my head, and Sam had his face pressed to the glass. Anna came up to the window, and smacked him in the face. On the other side, Sam was rubbing his face, glaring at everyone who was laughing. Fury, however, was staring at the cracks in the glass.

"You know that glass is four inches thick?" Fury asked, staring at the glass. Anna left the room, giggling. Sam turned to her, a mischievous look on his face.

"You are going to get it, Anna!" Sam called, chasing after Anna down the hall. Peter had a relieved look on his face. Ava gave him a look. "What?"

"Anna said Sam could blast me in the ass for being annoying."

"I can see why," Ava said. "You are both annoying and a pain in the ass."

A plume of smoke appeared next to Ava, and it formed Anna. "Okay, I think I lost him."

"Where?"

"I actually don't know," Anna said breathlessly. "Oh, Ava, we get to go to my old apartment for clothes."

"Yes!"

"Not unless I can come with you," Sam interjected, crossing his arms over his chest. Anna frowned.

"Sam, Ava's already coming. I don't need more than one." Anna complained, and Sam just smirked. "The options are clear. You can go with you to your old place, with Ava and me. Or, Ava can go alone while we duct tape you to a chair."

Danny pulled out his ear buds. "I'm sorry, what?"

Luke laughed. "Sam said if he can't go with Anna to her place, she would get taped to a chair. Never mind the fact she can turn into smoke and teleport out, or mimic our powers and bust out."

"I'm wondering the same thing too," Danny said, putting his ear buds back in, a smile on his face.

"I pick the third option," Anna announced, all heads turning to her.

"What third option was there?" Sam asked.

"The option where Ava and I go and your ass can stay here." Anna smirked. "I am seventeen years old. I don't need a babysitter. Especially one that's my boyfriend, thank you very much."

Ava's jaw dropped. "_He's your boyfriend?_ Girl, there must be something wrong for you to like _him_." Ava said, and Anna stuck her tongue out.

"I wouldn't be talking, fortune cookie." Anna replied, watching Ava blush. "I know the whole thing."

"How about we compromise?" Sam suggested. "Danny goes with you."

"Fine," Anna huffed. "Seeing as he's the only one with a level head here."

"Let's go in, and get out quickly," Anna advised. "My mom should be back any minute."

Anna unlocked the door quickly, letting her and Danny in. Anna went to her room, and Danny went to her bathroom, gathering things as fast as possible. Both met up in less than ten minutes, duffel bags full. They were about to leave when a high pitched whistling filled the air.

"Get down!" Anna yelled, and a window shattered, sending glass flying. Anna ran for the door, watching as the windows and mirrors shattered, sending flying glass everywhere. Where was Danny?

"Well, well, well, who do we have here?" a teen mused, standing over an unconscious Danny. The teen turned to Anna, a wicked gleam in his eyes. He drew out a dagger, running his thumb over the purple-black edge of the blade. Anna took hold of Danny's hand, and closed her eyes as the teen held up the dagger.

Anna opened her eyes, and found herself on the floor of the living area. Danny rolled over, rubbing the side of his head. A bruise was forming. "What happened?"

"Somebody was expecting us there." Anna said, breathing heavily. "Damn it, why didn't I expect it?"

"I'm no doctor, but I think you need to get looked at," Danny said, rubbing his head. "You're covered in burns and cuts."

"I'm fine," Anna waved him off. "You hit your head pretty hard. I think that takes precedence."

Anna stood up, throwing the duffel bags on the couch. She took a step, wincing at the pain. She shook it off. Danny stood up, going to the kitchen for ice packs. He came back, tossing one at Anna. She placed it on her ankle. She looked at her clothes, and a long slash through her tank top showed a little more than she wanted. A long cut showed through. "Shit."

"What?" Sam asked, coming into the living area, noticing Anna's and Danny's appearances. "What the hell happened?"

"What do you think?" Anna asked, stripping off the tank top off. She went rooting through a duffel bag for another shirt. "Some _kid _came and blew out the windows and mirrors. He knocked Danny out, and then slashed me with some weird as hell knife." Anna answered. She looked at the cut, which slowly started to knit itself together, and pulled the shirt on. Sam gave her a funny look. "Don't look at me like that. I'm just as confused as you are."

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, Sam, I'm fine," Anna assured him. "Perfectly normal."

"You see yourself recently? That's not what I could call normal."

"Sam, I woke up not even a few hours ago, found out I had powers, and now have a teenage assassin on my heels. Your sarcasm is the _last_ thing I need."

Luke, Danny, Sam and Peter turned their heads to me. "You have _what?_"

Anna laughed nervously. "Yeah, about that..."

"Did you find her?"

"Yes," the teen paused, "but she was with someone. They came for clothes."

"Why didn't you grab her and run?"

"He was starting to stir. And she would have put up a fight. At this point, I don't think I have the training to take her one-on-one right now."

"Then maybe you should practice more!" the man on the phone yelled. The teen moved the phone away from his ear. He smiled.

"At least a sample was acquired," the teen smiled, holding up a vial. Inside, blood sloshed around.

"Send me this sample. I want to analyze it," the man on the phone ordered. "She goes to Midtown to meet with friends. You can find her then."

"Yes, Doctor Octavius. I will find her."

"Wait a few days, though. We do it again, and she'll go into hiding."

"So wait?"

"Yes, you imbecile!"

"No need to be harsh." the teen replied, tucking away the vial. He looked down on the street, where his target was walking with a dark haired boy, laughing and joking around. He put away his phone.

"Nice to meet you, Anna."

Who do you think the assassin is? Put your answers in the reviews!


	4. First Encounter Part 2

"Get up. Get up, Anna."

"Leave me alone, Sam. I'm sleeping." Anna groaned. Sam kissed her ear. "Stop it, Sam."

"Who said this was Sam?"

Anna's eyes shot open. "HOLY SHIT!" Anna screamed, falling out of bed. The door opened, and everyone came in, all in various stages of clothing. Anna looked at them all in confusion. "What are you all doing here?"

"It was all Sam's idea!" Ava yelled, covering her mouth as soon as she said it. Peter face palmed himself. "You weren't supposed to tell her, Ava. It was supposed to be a surprise."

"What was?" Anna asked, dreading the answer. She wished she took Danny's advice seriously. Don't ask questions you don't want answers to.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" everyone shouted.

Anna pointed an accusing finger at Sam, who was sitting on the bed, messing with his hair. "You did this, didn't you?"

"I would deny it," Sam said, getting up off the bed, "but we have to get ready for school. And besides, it was your fault for being born on April Fool's Day."

"Oh, so it's my fault?"

"Ms. Crawford, follow me please." Coulson's voice floated out from the hallway. Anna pushed her way through the crowd, following Coulson to the debriefing room. He handed Anna a folder. "You will be starting school today-"

"But I graduated early. Skipped seventh and eighth grade."

"As a teacher's aide," Coulson finished. "You will be in each of the member's most troubling classes. Fury insisted that you go to school, even with you graduating early. So we compromised, and you will be a teacher's aide to keep an eye on them."

Anna placed her hands on her hips. "Isn't that your job?"

"There are over three hundred students at Midtown. It will be your job to watch them, and my job to watch the rest."

"Fine," Anna said, turning on her heel. "But if they move a toe out of line, they're gonna get it."

Coulson sighed. Teenagers.

Anna made her way back to Sam's room. Ever since she started living on the Helicarrier, she simply stayed in there. "Get ready for school!" She told everyone, pushing through the crowd. Simply grabbing an outfit from the closet, she stepped around Sam's clothes to behind the changing screen.

After everyone left, Sam went digging through the piles looking for a pair of clean pants. Anna tossed him a pair, then started to change. Sam pulled the pants on, rolling his eyes. "Anna, why do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Change behind that?" Sam pointed at the screen, sounding exasperated. "It's not like we sleep in the same room for God's sake."

"Well, for starters, I respect my privacy. So it would be easy to say that I'm a girl, for God's sake," Anna mimicked Sam. She came out, trying to reach a zipper. He came over, zipping it up the rest of the way. "I love you."

"I love you too," Sam kissed her. "See you after school."

"Hey, can I tag along, you know, for today?" Anna asked, batting her eyelashes. "It is my birthday."

"Sure. Anything for the birthday girl."

Anna scrunched up her nose. Just as she was about to leave, Sam jerked her around planting a kiss on her lips. Anna stood on her tip toes. They separated.

"You should do that more often," Anna said, wiping Sam's bottom lip with her thumb. "That was nice."

"Maybe," Sam hinted.

Anna grabbed her folder, along with a tote, stuffing the folder inside. Ava walked by, and Anna caught up, walking in silence.

"What's up with you and Danny?"

Ava turned to Anna. "I thought you already knew."

"I know some," Anna corrected. "So, dish!"

"We were just friends."

"Were as in..?"

"As in up until the other day," Ava blushed. "Something may or may not have happened."

"Damn it, Ava, don't keep me in suspense! What happened?"

"I kissed him."

Anna stopped. "You're kidding."

Anna ran down the hallway, checking room numbers. Finally finding the right room, she stepped inside, only to have the teacher look at her. "You're late."

"Principal Coulson got me turned around," Anna said, rushing to the front of the room. "He sends his dearest apologies."

"Now, class," the teacher announced, "Anna will be joining this and several other classes as a teacher's aide."

Everyone looked up. She scanned the crowd, looking for a familiar face. She found Luke's face, far in the back. Anna relaxed slightly. Today was going to be a long day.

As Anna stepped into the cafeteria, she saw the group at their table, talking and eating. She made her way to the table, until a big bulky kid stood in front of her, looking her over. "Well, what do we have here?"

"A teacher's aide," Anna replied sarcastically. "Now let me through."

"How about we go somewhere?" the kid asked, running his hand down her arm. She smacked it off.

"And how about I file for sexual harassment?" Anna asked innocently. The kid moved, and she sat down in her spot. "Hey guys."

"Pete had the idea that we could go out for your birthday," Sam told her, using a spoon to make mashed potato sculptures. "And I had the idea that we could tell you the big secret."

"What big secret?"

Ava held her hand up in a cat claw motion. "White Tiger."

Danny did his meditation motion. "Iron Fist."

Luke crossed his arms over his chest. "Power Man."

Anna feigned shock. "Oh my God, what do I say?" she said dramatically, and then her face went blank. "I say, predictable."

"What?!"

"I've already met you all before. Ava even introduced herself to me. When I was asleep, I heard the conversations of you guys around me. Fury's present for me was to train with you guys." Anna said proudly, a smug smile on her face. "Sam told me himself, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure who Peter is."

Anna's phone buzzed. "I've gotta go. Fury needs me."

Anna rushed into the room. "You said you needed me?"

Fury turned around, a man at his side. "Yes. After the Carnage encounter with Spider-Man and Venom the other day, I thought that you and this researcher here can study the new symbiote."

Anna joined the scientist, taking notes and jotting down different discoveries. "Why can't we take it out? We might be able to study it better with it outside of the containment."

"The symbiote attaches itself to people. But go ahead," the scientist warned, stepping away. Anna moved the beaker, and the symbiote jumped, landing on Anna's hand. It started spreading, but recoiled and wrapped itself around her hand. The scientist was amazed. "That's amazing. It's never done that before. What's it doing?"

Garbled thoughts floated through Anna's mind. "It's saying it's looking for Demon."

"Who's Demon?"

"I'm more concerned on how I can hear it," Anna replied. The scientist gave her a look. "Another symbiote, I guess." Anna shrugged, until another thought entered her head. "No."

"What?"

"It's saying," Anna paused, her face paling, "It's saying that _I'm_ Demon."

Fury paced outside Containment. "It all makes sense now."

"What does?"

"It would explain everything."

"Would someone please tell me what's going on?"

The scientist came on over the speaker. "Was your mother working at Oscorp before you were born?"

"Yes."

"The experimental substance your mother was exposed to didn't affect her, but it did you. It's because it wasn't a substance, but a symbiote. That's also because Demon needed a host to attach to that would mature over time. An unborn child. When you born, you had matured enough to the point where Demon could live in you, _be_ you. Having separate powers beside Demon's only added to that effect."

"Hey, what's going on?" Peter asked, coming up behind Fury.

"What's been going on is my ass has been in Containment for the past three hours!" Anna yelled, the sound reverberating off the walls, making it twice as loud.

"It would make sense," the scientist said over the noise. "The symbiote attached itself to an unborn child, and figured that it would also protect the host. That's why you have instant healing. That's Demon 'protecting' its host. And that's also why most of your memory is clouded. Demon wants to protect you from the things that caused you pain. It would also explain why the symbiote we were studying didn't attach itself to you. You aren't exactly a human."

"Anna's inhuman?" Peter mused. "No wonder she's so sarcastic and snarky."

"And no wonder I would consider you a pain in the ass," Anna said. "You're just annoying."

Fury laughed. The door unlocked. Suddenly Fury's face went serious. "That would explain why you nearly died from fluroform poisoning. The symbiote is severely allergic to demon glass. Oscorp was feeding Demon fluroform so that Demon would leave Anna's body. Never mind the fact that if Demon left, it would kill Anna instantly, seeing as it's bonded to everything."

"Well, that's just great," Anna said, whirling her finger in the air. "Anything else?"

"This means you can now train with the team."

"Awesome!"

"Great," Peter grumbled.

"I have news," the teen said, balancing on the rooftops. "It's important."

"Well, what is it?"

"Someone finally figured out what Anna is."

"What do you mean?"

"Remember when you told me the story of how her mother was exposed to that weird substance?"

"Yes."

"It wasn't really a substance, but a symbiote. It attached itself to Anna as a baby and matured in her body."

"Interesting. If the symbiote successfully bonded with Anna, that would make her a-"

The teen and Octavius spoke at the same time. "Demon."

"Oscorp's greatest creation, under our noses, all this time," Octavius said, awed.

"But we can't separate Anna and the symbiote," the teen said, jumping to the ground. "It would kill her. Then the symbiote would die."

"Hmm, then we will need to be careful in this next stage."

A few days later...

Anna was in the living area with Ava, helping her with her homework. There were also cups and a plate of cookies. Currently, Anna munched on a cookie while Ava ranted on reading.

"Why would the teacher pick this story?" Ava asked her. "It has no meaning to it. It's just a story on how an inanimate object comes to life."

"Maybe he picked that story because it expresses the fact that no matter how much reality you put into an object, if you lose grip on reality, it's no longer real. The person in the story went insane because he actually thought it was real."

Ava dropped her pencil. "Where do you come up with this stuff?" she asked, jotting down the answer. Danny walked into the living area, holding some papers and books.

"Whose are those?" Danny asked, looking at the cookies.

"Pete said they weren't anyone's cookies," Anna said, nibbling on the edge of another cookie. "You want one?"

"No thank you."

"You should've heard what she just said, Danny," Ava said, moving over to make room for Danny. "I think you're starting to rub off on her."

"I heard." Danny said, smiling as he sat down on the couch, his arm around Ava. _Well, I can pretty much guess what happened next,_ Anna thought, biting down on a cookie.

"Hey, has anyone seen the cookies from the fridge?" Coulson asked, going through the cabinets and fridge looking for them. Anna slowly slid them out of sight, stuffing the rest of the cookie in her mouth. Danny and Ava were laughing hysterically. After Coulson left, Anna stood up and stormed off to Peter's "room". The door opened, and Peter was on the bed, laughing his head off.

"Did you know those were Coulson's cookies?" Peter asked, barely able to breathe. Anna glared.

"You are being a royal pain in the ass!" Anna yelled. "A royal pain in my ass, as a matter of fact!"

Sam walked by, hearing her yelling in Pete's room. Through the window, Sam saw Anna, pointing a finger in Pete's face. He thought nothing of it until her nails sharpened, growing towards Peter.

"Bad Anna! No!" Sam said, bursting into the room. He picked her up around the waist dragging her out of the room. She screamed, clawing at Sam's arms. Her fingers sunk into his arm, and he dropped her. "What the hell was that? You just went all dark and attacked me."

"Oh my God, Sam. I'm so sorry," Anna said, covering her mouth. Long nail tracks went down his arm. "It wasn't me. I just got so mad, and I blacked out."

"It's fine."

"No, it's not," Anna said, taking off her over shirt, wrapping it around Sam's arm. "Now this must be what Ava feels like wearing that Tiger Amulet. I'm surprised she hasn't attacked anyone yet. Must take a lot of self-control."

"Ava's been controlling her powers for years. You've had yours for only a few days," Sam explained. "And your powers are much darker and raw than hers. So don't compare yourself to her. When Peter was attacked by Venom, he was uncontrollable. Lucky for you, I saved the day."

Anna lightly shoved Sam. "I wasn't even there."

"That's why you're lucky. He was actually much better looking than he is now," Sam said. Peter looked out of his room. "I heard that."

"You were meant to!" Sam shouted. Anna dragged Sam back to his room, bringing a first aid kit. She pushed him down into a chair, digging through the kit. She pulled out bandages, Neosporin and tape.

"Stay still," Anna ordered, wrapping Sam's arm much more carefully. She tightened the bandages, making Sam cringe. "I said stay still."

"Well, maybe I would if it didn't hurt."

"Done," Anna said, taping the last piece together. "I'm really sorry, though. It wasn't me doing that."

She got up, putting the kit away. She then put her head on Sam's chest. "Don't worry, I still love you," Sam promised her, making Anna smile. "Even if you lose control you and you accidentally stick people with your fingernails, disappear in a puff of smoke, and other things that you haven't discovered yet."

Anna's face lit up. "That was awful, but you still love me for it, so..."

She reached up and kissed him, until his communicator went off. Anna's face went blank. "Your damn tech always screws up our moments. Why?"

Sam checked his communicator. "Because I have to deal with villains like the Frightful Four. Oh, and Ava says Fury wants to see you."

"Okay." Anna said, leaving the room to look for Fury. A door opened, and she stepped in, blinking back the bright lights. "You said you wanted to see me?"


	5. Dagger

"Put more effort into it, Anna. You need to bend your knees, straighten your back." the instructor said, showing Anna the position again. "You also need to breathe deeply, so that you won't become light headed."

Anna stood, knees bent, back against the wall. Ever since Anna's powers came around, Fury set Anna up with a trainer, Stacey Blue. For the past week, Anna had been learning how to control the flare ups and her emotions, so Anna wouldn't lose control. Stacey stood next to her, holding the position for a few minutes. After about ten minutes, Stacey and Anna left the workout room for lunch. As the two sat down at a table, Stacey randomly burst out, "So, what are you like?"

Anna shrugged. "I'm not sure. I'm like... well, I don't know." she said, biting her lip. "When I was younger, I used to love horses and running. In sixth grade, the school I went to put me on track because of how fast I was. But they also figured I was too smart for my own good, so after sixth, I skipped seventh and eight grade. I'm now eighteen, but I'm not starting my third year of college until this fall. According to my mother, I'm going to Harvard on scholarship."

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

"Oh yeah," Anna nodded. "Sam. Did you have a boyfriend?"

"I had a husband. His name was William. He loved science. For a while, we lived in California, and he studied animal DNA. Was going to make a presentation on the uses of certain animal cells."

"Like cross-species genetics."

"No. He believed that some animals had the ability to prevent illness, and others could cure illnesses. But the night before the presentation, we were at home, playing with our daughter. But burgulars broke in, tying up everyone but William. They asked him, questions, about his work. But he wouldn't answer. So they beat him unconsious, and when he woke up, they made us watch as they killed our little Phoebe in cold blood."

Anna held Stacey's hand. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know."

"Anyway," Stacey began again, "They killed Phoebe, and then tortured him, breaking his fingers one by one. He still wouldn't talk, so they started torturing me, too. Broke my wrist, a couple of fingers. But, he still wouldn't talk, so they beat him brutally. The police came, but it was too late. He was gone. You?"

"As I grew up, my mom thought I had a brain problem. But when Oscorp found out, they set me up with this special doctor and specialist and everything. Except they weren't helping me, they were killing me. Feeding me fluroform, which was burning me from the inside."

"Sounds brutal," Stacey said, picking the shredded lettuce out of her sandwich. "So why did it burn you?"

"Because I'm what people _don't_ like to call a demon," Anna said, biting down into an apple. "An evil being that can do pretty much anything, with the side effect being if my emotions get the better of me, I black out and the other side takes over."

"Was church ever a problem?"

Anna laughed. "It started when I was nine, still naive. Believing everyone should be given a chance. We went to church one day, and the pastor mentioned that demons were awful creatures that wreaked havoc everywhere. He said, 'And because of this, demons should be banished to Hell'. But I yelled at him, saying everyone deserves a chance. And that's when I made his Bible catch fire."

"Oh my God, are you serious?"

"Yes, completely. And then he accused me of being a demon for lighting the 'Holy Word' on fire." Anna said, barely able to breathe between laughs. "After that, we kinda drifted away from the church scene."

After lunch, the two went back to the training room, meditating and sharing thoughts. But in the end, they just messed around, occaisionally doing meditating exercises and yoga poses. At around five, Stacey packed up. "Looks Iike I've gotta go."

"I've got a place you can stay at," Anna offered. "Granted that the windows and all the mirrors were fixed."

"Really? It gets seriously painful having to walk to the pick-up area from Boston," Stacey complained, showing her aching feet.

"Sure. We can go there right now," Anna said, grabbing Stacey's hand and smoking out of the training room.

Anna and Stacey reappeared in the living room of Anna's apartment. Stacey looked around, and Anna was surprised the windows and mirrors were fixed. But, she was more surprised at the letter on the counter. She sat at a barstool, ripping the envelope open. Inside, a set of keys fell out, along with a letter. Unfolding the letter, Anna read it out loud.

_Dear Anna,_

_ I wish I could be there to tell you, but sadly I can't. Me, your mother, have gone to see my sister and her adoptive daughter. Vee. She is saying wonderful things about Florida. Chase, your brother, has mysteriously disappeared, so unfortunately, he isn't down here with me, but I suppose he'll turn up_ _soon. _

_Anyway, by time you_ _get to read this, I'll probably be on my way back. I miss you so much!_

_Sincerely,_

_Mom_

_P.S.- I have no idea what happened to the windows and everything, but if that was you and Sam, I don't want to know. All I know is, you two were here, then I came home and the house is in chaos. Either way, you have a hell of a lot of explaining to do when I get back._

__Anna pursed her lips. "Well, okay then."

Stacey was flat on her butt laughing, barely able to breathe. "You and Sam did that? Oh my God! Why would you do that?"

Anna blushed furiously. "We didn't do that. We aren't sexually active. Hell, we aren't even romantically active, other than kisses and such."

"Okay, I believe you. But this a pretty sweet place, " Stacey complimented the apartment. "Look at the place. I could hide here and never be found."

"That's the point."

Anna and Stacey turned, and on the balcony, stood the teen, flipping a small throwing knife between his fingers. The knife too, had a purple-black color.

"Who are you?" Anna asked the teen, crossing her arms over her chest. "Because if I am going to see you often, I might as well know your name."

"How can I be so sure you won't tell S.H.I.E.L.D. about me?" the teen asked. "But seeing as they know, you can call me Dagger."

"So, Dagger," Anna enunciated with disdain, "What do you want?"

"You," Dagger said easily, his brown eyes having a mischievous glint in them. "You have been my target for weeks."

Stacey leaned in. "Stalker alert," she whispered, pointing to Dagger. But Anna was more intrigued than disgusted. He felt... different.

"Anna, show me your colors, and I'll show you mine. We aren't that different," Dagger told her, catching her off guard. He knew her name?

"We are that different."

"Would Chase say so?" Dagger asked, making Anna mad. She dialed Chase's number, and the throwing knife flew, knocking the phone out of Anna's hand. "Goodbye, Anna. I will see you soon," Dagger said, hinting he'd see her again. He jumped off the balcony, jumping from rooftop to rooftop.

Dagger silently swore. Anna was more than Octavius said she was. He took his phone out, looking at the picture of Anna, hugging Chase. If she had no idea who he was, she wouldn't see it coming.

**Author's Note- So what did you think? I feel so bad for Stacey. She had her life ripped away. On another note, what was your opinion on the letter? **

**Anyway, I have a question. What do you think will happen** **next? Put your answer in a review. Whoever gets closest, a special prize (maybe in the form of a rant, where you are anonymously mentioned) will be given to you. Don't forget to like, follow, and review! **


	6. Shoot to Kill

**Song- Fighter by Christina Aguilera**

The instructor watched the final exam. The dark-haired girl gracefully flipped, jumped and performed all the moves perfectly. Robots came in, overwhelming the girl. But she worked quickly, destroying one after another, until a pile of scrap metal sat in the middle of the room.

"It is over," the instructor said over the speaker. "You may have a break."

The girl nodded, walking off to the locker room.

Anna opened the door, and the cold air hit her skin. She found a towel, and wiped the sweat off her body. Sitting down, Anna opened a water bottle, downing it all. She tossed the bottle in the trash, taking in deep breaths. Ava came into the locker room, sitting across from Anna.

"That's pretty impressive," Ava said. "I've never seen someone destroy the robots like that so quickly. Anna, you destroyed them about as fast as Captain America."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Fury was pretty impressed."

Ava checked her communicator. "I've gotta go. Have to witness the judgement."

She stood up, exiting the room. Anna laid down on the bench, watching the ceiling fan spin circles. Th hypnotic motion caused Anna's eyelids to droop.

Anna watched as she was in the middle of walking down the street. She saw Sam walking down the street, and Anna's coffee went all over her. The next events played out in a blur. But before the memory ended, Anna saw Dagger, blancing on a fire escape. He looked at her. "Don't you think something more happened? Like it was a little too planned?" Dagger asked, vanishing into the shadows.

Anna bolted up, wide awake. She realized that she was in her room. A note was pinned to the wall.

Anna,

Meet with us in the debriefing room.

-S.

Anna's stomach did a flip. Maybe she got into the team! Setting a land record for getting dressed, Anna found her way to the debriefing room, where everyone was sitting around a table. Ava looked at her, giving her a thumbs up. Fury and Coulson stood at the front of the room.

"Team, we have some good news," Coulson said. "Welcome Anna to the team."

"You did remarkable, Ms. Crawford," Fury applauded. "So well, in fact, I'm making you a S.H.I.E.L.D. shadow."

"What's a shadow?"

"Like Black Widow," Fury started, "A shadow is a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent that goes undercover to feed information to us on a certain target. Black Widow was undercover as Stark's assistant to find out why he was doing certain events, like giving his company to Ms. Potts.

"Your first assignment though, will be to go undercover at Oscorp. Since your arrival, Oscorp has been trying to replicate a certain substance," Fury paused. "The substance that gave you your powers. So, you will go undercover and bring a sample of this substance to us."

"No," Sam said bluntly, making everyone stare at him.

"Mr. Alexander, you cannot tell Anna what to do," Coulson reprimanded.

"You do know this puts Anna in danger, right?" Sam asked. "If they find out, she could possibly die."

"This is not your decision, Sam." Danny told him. "We need to let others follow their own paths."

"She doesn't have to do it, though," Fury said. "It's completely up to her."

"I want to do this," Anna said, and Sam's face paled. "I want to find out how this happened. I_ need_ to know."

"Since you've decided, you will start Monday, interning for Dr. Dark. This will give you the opportunity to grab a small sample. It would also be an added bonus if you could get your file, too. This way we could find out your power range."

The team left the room, leaving Sam alone with Coulson.

"You cannot let your feelings cloud your judgement." Coulson advised. "It will destroy the mission."

"I not sure if keeping to the mission is worth her life anymore," Sam replied, storming out.

Sitting cross-legged on her bed, Anna went over tests from Sam's math class, frowning is disgust. _How could people be this boneheaded? It's a simple problem._

Punching a couple of buttons on the wall, a smartboard came out of the ceiling. Anna picked up a marker, scribbling down the problem. She then wrote down each person's answer, and how they solved the problem. The computer ran the problem and answer through, coming back with red writing and arrows, pointing out the problems with each answer. Anna wrote down the problems, breezing through test grading easily. Placing all the tests back in the folder, she grabbed her towel, heading for the shower.

Sam paced his room, his thoughts racing. The mission doesn't seem like it's worth it anymore, Sam thought. It's too risky to put Anna in that situation. She could get killed, and then I wouldn't be able to live with myself.

He looked out his window, and saw Anna walk past, towel in hand. Shortly after, an agent passed by the window, holding a purple-black knife at her side. Sam shook his head._ I'm imagining things_.

Suddenly, red lights flashed, and Sam ran out, getting out and to the debriefing room before everything went into shutdown. Ava, Danny, Luke and Peter were there, along with Coulson and Fury.

Sam looked around, and camera monitors were all over the room, displaying camera feeds in the hallways. "What's going on?"

"There's an intruder on the Helicarrier," Coulson said, scanning the screens. "We just don't know where."

Anna let the water run over her hand, testing the heat. The water then shut off, and the door locked, trapping her inside.

"Sam? Ava? Danny? Anyone?" Anna called, hitting the door. It didn't budge. "Someone help, please!"

"Don't think it will happen, Anna," a voice interrupted, making Anna stand still. She turned around, and Dagger stood there, different weapons strapped to his body. "Intruder alerts here are taken very seriously."

"Why can't I make a single move without being a target? A shower is all I ask for. One shower." Anna held a finger up. "It's ridiculous."

"There'a something that you need to see," Dagger pleaded. "It's important."

"And so are showers." Anna crossed her arms. "But since you insist, hell no."

"If that's what you want." Dagger shrugged. Suddenly, an agent came in, pulling out small plastic discs and throwing them. They exploded in the air, filling the room with gas. "Game on."

"What's with that one?" Ava pointed at a camera feed. Smoke filled the screen. "You can't see anything."

The smoke cleared, revealing the bathroom. Anna was pushed against the wall, fighting an agent. Audio was functional. The agent grabbed a fistful of Anna's hair, hitting her head on the wall. A sickening crack sounded through the speakers.

"No!"

Ava started sobbing into Danny's shirt. Sam's eyes were glued to the screen. Luke and Peter were taking turns puking into a trash can. The agent turned towards the camera.

"Don't catch what you can't control," the agent said, a smile lighting up her face. She disappeared, and everything went back to normal. Sam ran out the door, looking for the bathroom.

"Anna!" Sam yelled, slipping on the water in the bathroom. A shower was on, the head broken and spraying water everywhere. Blood mixed with the water on the floor.

"My head..."

Ava and Danny found the bathroom, the looks on their faces coming nowhere close to the guilty feeling Sam had in the pit of his stomach. _I failed. _

Ava and Danny found a fan, switching it on and watching the smoke fly away. Along the far wall, two figures slumped on the floor, the bigger one barely sitting against the wall. As the smoke cleared more, the two figures turned out to be a boy and a girl, the girl being Anna. Nobody had any idea who the boy was. The boy, however, held Anna's head up, which was bleeding from the temple.

"I'm sorry, man," Danny said, placing a hand on Sam's shoulder. "It doesn't look good."

"Who's he?" Ava asked, pointing to the other teen. "Never seen him before."

"He just saved this agent's life." Fury answered Ava's question. "During the hit against the wall, the force was strong enough to crack the skull. Lifting her head that way alleviated pressure while her healing system kicked in."

"What happened?" Anna asked, picking herself up off the floor. Sam wrapped an arm around her waist, holding her close to him. "My head hurts."

Sam watched the boy being carted off by medics. "You were attacked by agent. Don't worry, we're going to find them, whoever they are."

"Excellent job," Octavius said surprised. "You succeeded where Dagger failed."

"Well, it was my job to." the woman commented causually.

"I want you to bring her here," Octavius ordered. "She is property of Oscorp Industries, and my boss wants me to study her."

"The late and great Anna Bree Crawford? Please," the woman snorted. "Easy."

"What will you need?"

"A distraction. And a hostage."

"Will that be all, Emily?"

"That's Ms. Crawford to you."

**Dun, dun, duuuuuun! How could it be?! I had no idea that was coming! What did you think? I thought it was pretty freaking amazing. Who knew that Anna's ****_mother_**** was trying to kill her? I didn't even type that. I'm serious, though. My mind wandered, and when I came back to reality, that was there. Speaking of which, Dagger will be revealed in the next chapter. I think. **

**So, I haven't updated in a while, but it is NOT my fault. My mother grounded me (I know, it happens to everyone). But, by time this is published (it's Wednesday), my grounding will be over. To the person known as Kaliswag619, who are you? You a guest? Leave an answer.**


	7. Falling to Pieces

**She Wolf (Falling to Pieces)- David Guetta ft. Sia**  
The team sat around the table in their living area, heads in their hands. Luke and Peter were chewing mint gum to get rid of the nasty taste in their mouths.

"She's gonna be okay, right?" Peter asked, his face pale. "Because in the video, it looked like she died. I mean, a crack like that doesn't sound good."

"Sam said it was just a concussion. She'll be fine," Ava muttered. Peter pretended he heard her. Anna stumbled in, hand pressed to the wall. Pulling an ice pack out of the freezer, she laid down on the counter, placing it delicately on her forehead. Sam walked in, wearing a pair of boxers and a t-shirt.

"What are you doing on the counter?" Peter asked, sitting up in the chair. "You know we, and by we, we mean Sam, cooks there."

"When did I give a damn?" Anna asked sarcastically. "Oh, that's right, I didn't."

"Oh, that's right, I didn't," Peter mocked. "Nope. I think she's fine."

"Nope, I think she's fine," Anna mocked back, but instead of her voice, it was Peter's.

Peter stood up straight. "What was that?"

"Me." Anna sat up on the counter. "Mocking you."

"No, you sounded exactly like me," Peter said. "You copied me!"

"I'm sorry, but it's too early to be debating on this," Sam yawned. Luke, Ava, and Danny agreed. Everyone's communicators beeped. Anna put her hands over her ears.

"Turn it off!"

"Fine," Peter said grumpily, shutting his off. "No need to be a bitch."

Anna jumped off the counter. "Oh, I'll show you..."

"No, you won't," Sam said, seperating the two. Turning to Peter, he frowned. "What the hell, man?"

"She started it!" Peter pointed a finger at Anna.

"Well, I don't care who started it," Sam said. "And come on Pete. You are _seventeen_ years old. Act like it."

"You know," Ava started, "I think it's weird that _Sam_ would be one to break up a fight."

"I agree." Danny ran his fingers through his hair. He checked his communicator. "Fury wants us."

The group stood up, minus Luke, who fell asleep. Anna went back to her room, where she went back to sleep. Horrible dreams plagued her mind. Long metal arms, needles, a red-haired man, and darkness. Infinitely stretching darkness. And a boy. Chase.

"You see me?" Chase asked.

Anna, in dream form, ran towards him, wrapping her arms around him. She cried, and Chase tried to console her. "I'm sorry. I can't see anything. I tried to find you, but it was too dark."

Anna sniffled. "What do you mean?"

"All I feel is cold. I feel metal and wires and... cold." Chase's skin felt cold, and he went considerably pale. Anna stumbled back, gasping for air.

"He has you, doesn't you?"

"I don't know," Chase said, fading into the blackness. "Find me."

"Please come back!" Anna yelled. The darkness was consuming, and it grabbed at her, stretching over her limbs. She shut her eyes, hoping it would go away. But it consumed everything. Even Anna.

"Anna, wake up!"

As she opened her eyes, her eyes focused onto Danny, who stood over her. "Help me," she whispered, and the darkness clouded over. It consumed her, trapping her in a cage.

"Think, Anna," Danny said calmly. "You control this."

The darkness faded, leaving Anna shaking and crying. Danny held her, trying to console her.

"He has him," she stuttered.

Danny nodded. "I know. I saw."

Chase sagged on the table, his skin growing colder and colder. Emily watched him from the balcony, with Mr. Osborn. Octavius drew another vial of blood, running several tests on it.

"So, I heard you nearly caught our elusive Anna?" Mr. Osborn asked, and Emily nodded. "Good work, Ms. Crawford."

"I almost had her, but that damn security would've tracked me." Emily gripped the balcony. "You're lucky I had him." she added, pointing to Chase.

"And how is this so?"

"Because he's one of a small group of people on Earth that can communicate with Anna telepathically. Octavius is trying to use this power to locate her. Try to set up a meeting and snatch her."

"Smart idea, for amateurs," Mr. Osborn snapped, taking Emily aback. "You need to strike home."

"How?"

"Hit her where it hurts."

"Chase is her brother." Emily checked her watch. "And besides, there's nobody else I'm aware of that she's close to."

"Who are you, Dagger?" Anna asked the boy, taking her finger off the intercom button.

"I am no one," Dagger answered simply. "No one you know."

"Wait a minute," Anna stopped, looking at his face. "I know you!"

He started to get fidgety. "Do you?"

"Yes. Mark?" Anna asked, and he sat still. "I knew it! Why?"

"At first it was for Octavius," Mark explained, and Sam glared at him. "Then, when I saw how good you were, I refused. When I tried warning you about Emily the Strange-"

"Wait, Emily the Strange, as in the franchise?"

"No, as in the new assassin. She became a villian-for-hire type assassin, working for people with the most money. That's how your family lived so well. Emily knew your mother. So she gave your mom money."

"I'm tired of this bullshit," Anna said, waving Mark off. "People saying that my gifts make me bad. People saying my mother is some sort of evil. I'm tired of it."

She stood up, leaving the interrogation room. Mark got up, banging on the glass. "But I'm being serious!"

Back in the living area, the group was sitting on the couch, watching a movie. Anna sat down next to Sam, who was drifting off. Sitting down woke him up. "Hey."

"Hey. What are we watching?" Anna asked.

"Don't know," Sam said, yawning.

Looking at the the group, most were passed out on the couch or on the floor. Bored, Anna stood back up, heading for her room. Sam got up and followed her. In her room, Anna sat on her bed, her thoughts racing to this morning, when the other half got the best of her. Sam knocked, and the door slid open. He walked over to her bed, sitting down next to Anna, who looked to be in deep thought.

A smirk on his face, Sam started tickling her. Rolling over, Anna was laughing and yelling, "Stop it!" as he tickled her sides. She pressed her lips to his. He stopped, skimming his hands down her sides.

Anna broke the kiss. "That was only to get you to stop tickling me."

"I know," Sam said. "Now close your eyes."

Obeying him, Anna felt a small solid object fall into her hand. Opening her eyes, she saw a ring, decorated in tiny little stars and comets. "It's beautiful."

"I was going to give it to you a while ago," Sam sid shyly. "But I could never find a way to."

"Thank you," Anna said, slipping it onto her middle finger. "I love it. I will never take it off. Ever."

"Where is she?" Octavius asked, a sadistic look on his face.

"I won't tell you," Chase said defiantly. He gritted his teeth as Octavius turned the power on, and electricity coursed through his veins. "I'm still not telling you."

"It's useless," Octavius called out over the noise. "He won't talk."

"I just had an idea," Emily called out. "Anna always hangs out at Midtown during lunch. How about we find her there?"

"Of course," Octavius said, switching the power off. Chase sagged on the table, panting from the pain.

"No, stop, I'll talk." Chase fisted his hands.

"Well, then talk."

"Even if you do find her, you won't take her," Chase said, a victorious smile lighting up his face. "She's under S.H.I.E.L.D. protection. And even if you got her, which you won't-"

Emily slapped Chase across the face. Blood trickled from his lip. "Don't be so pessimistic, Chase. Mommy dearest will reunite our family again."

**Oooooooooh, so deliciously twisted! I hate to sound like other "needy" people on here, but I'd really like reviews. You see, I have a mental condition (not even lying) where I feel the need to impress people. So, I just want feedback from the readers.**

**Anyway, in the part where Sam gave Anna the comet ring, I thought it was super adorable. And if you ask, "Is it real? The comet ring?" I answer, "Yes, it's real. I'm wearing it right now."**

**To a Kaliswag619, no it doesn't bother me that you're a guest. At all. And I was pretty thrown off by the fact Anna's mother's out to get her, and I wrote it. BTDubs, now that we know who Dagger is, what sort of place did he have in Anna's life?**


	8. Work in Progress

Caution- Some sexual content. Don't worry, no M or X rated stuff, though I wouldn't recommend young children read it. So if you can't take the heat, GET THE HELL OUT OF MY KITCHEN!

**Song- Animal (Billboard Remix) by Ke$ha. I cannot stress how important it is to pick the billboard remix, NOT the original. The remix gave me the inspiration for this chapter, so don't screw up my inner author/perfect moment song picker by picking the wrong** **song.** **That would be wrong. Horribly wrong.**

Watching her at the front of the room, Sam tried to focus on the current problem at hand. Math. But he couldn't. He just couldn't. The thought of somebody that would actually hunt down people for sport was sickening. People like Anna. Who, at that point in time, was busy twisting the comet ring around her finger and grading assignments. The teacher did notice this.

"Mr. Alexander?" the teacher's voice rang out, bringing Sam back to reality. "Are you listening?"

"Uh, yeah," Sam said distractedly, making it look like he was taking notes. The teacher went back to talking just as the bell rang. Everyone stood up, gathering books and papers. Sam stood up, gathering his things.

"Ms. Crawford and Mr. Alexander, please stay. I need to talk to you two," the teacher said, stacking things and organizing his desk. Anna sat down next to the desk, and Sam sat back down. Giving the both of them searing looks, the teacher asked, "What is going on with you two?"

"Nothing." Sam looked down at his books. Anna checked her phone. The teacher took it.

"It would be ridiculous if you two were dating," the teacher muttered, going through the pictures. His face went pale. "Oh."

"Uh, yeah."

"Well, I believe I need to apologize. Ms. Crawford, I am sorry for intruding on your privacy."

"I'm actually disappointed. You're the only other person or teacher here that doesn't know."

"You two are free to leave then." the teacher waved them off, handing Anna her phone back.

After gathering everything up, Anna stood up and left, heading for the detention room. When she got there, she took a place near the back, grading assignments. Luke and Peter casually started to move to the back. She didn't notice. They kept moving closer and closer, until they were basically breathing down Anna's neck. She turned around suddenly, scaring them. "Beat it!"

Sam walked in, taking a seat near the front. One moment, they were in detention, the next they were at the Helicarrier.

"I'm off," Anna announced, heading off towards the rooms. Entering hers, she stripped down, putting on a tank top and shorts. She sat down on her bed, taking a notebook off the nightstand. Grabbing a pencil, she opened the notebook, which was filled with a story. Her story. The inside cover said Princess of China by Veronica Huntsman. Anna came up with the name. Flipping to marked page in the notebook, she continued to write along.

Lee Su kneeled at the foot of the king. "Yes, Your Majesty," Lee Su said, bowing. The emperor nodded, and Lee Su darted off to the princess's chamber. Inside, the princess was having her hair assistants combed it out as it was being cleaned.

"Princess," Lee Su called out, wringing her hands. "He's here to see you."

With a few spoken words, the assistants were pinning up the princess's hair. Her hair was pinned into an amber flame comb. Taking her hand, Lee Su led the princess out of the palace, into the cherry blossom garden. There, Chan sat on the bench, looking at the pink blossoms falling gently to the ground. When he saw her, he stood up and bowed. The princess giggled. "There is no need to bow to me."

"But you are royalty," Chan said, choosing his words carefully. "It would be disrespectful if I didn't."

"You may leave us, Lee Su," the princess said, and Lee Su bowed, leaving the garden. The princess sat next to Chan, her hand grasping his. "We have to leave, Chan. My father doesn't want us together."

"I know friends that work at the docks," Chan promised. "They can set up a boat for us to leave. We can be gone in a few days."

The princess pressed a kiss to Chan's lips. "I hope so."

"What'cha doing?"

Anna jumped, her pencil streaking across the page. "Dammit, you made me mess up!"

"Sorry," the person said, and when she looked up, she saw Sam. "I just came to, uh, see if you're okay."

Anna tucked the notebook away. "Yeah, I'm fine," she said, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "Just writing. Until you came in and scared the hell of me."

Sam sat at the edge of her bed. "Well, we have some down time because training was canceled, so I was thinking we could cuddle."

Anna quirked an eyebrow. "Yeah right. Cuddle my ass."

Sam held his hands up. "Can't blame a player for trying."

Anna grabbed a hair band, gathering her hair into a bun. She moved closer to the end of the bed, placing a hand on Sam's cheek, a smile on her face. "Fine. You win."

Anna pulled him towards her, crashing her lips to his. Sam wrapped his arms around her back, pressing her against the wall. He deepened their kiss, his tongue dancing with hers. Reaching up, Sam pulled Anna's hair out of the bun, tangling his fingers in it. Anna drew in a sharp breath, tensing up.

Becoming aggravated, Anna clawed at Sam's shirt, trying to take it off. Pulling harder at the fabric, she heard a rip, and then it fluttered to the floor. Sam took her tank top off, throwing it to the floor.

"I can't do this," Anna said awkwardly, putting her tank top back on. "I'm just not ready."

"It's okay." Sam sat down on the bed, staring at his shirt on the floor. "Did you rip my shirt?"

"I don't know. Maybe?"

Anna sat down in Sam's lap. "Do you love me?"

"Of course I do."

"Would you love me even if I was bad?"

"Why?"

"I don't know," Anna shrugged. "It just seems like... I'm thinking that I might turn out bad."

"Evil may have raised you. Evil may have left it's mark, but evil has not corrupted you. You are pure at heart."

"That's one of the cheesiest ways of all time to put it. But it's sweet," Anna said, intertwining their fingers. Her eyes started to droop. "I'm really tired."

"Then go to sleep."

Sticking the needle in the vial, Emily drew out a needle filled with a dark red liquid.

"All done," Emily announced, capping the needle. "What exactly is this?"

"Something only Oscorp can cure." Octavius smiled, continuing experiments. As she approached the table, Chase started struggling in the restraints, his wrists already bloodied from previous attempts.

"Hold still," Emily commanded, her slender fingers closing around his arm. "It will only hurt a little." she stuck the needle into his arm, pushing down on the plunger. Nothing happened. "What game are you playing, Octavius?"

"None. The toxin is tailored specific to her DNA. It will suppress the system in a death-like state, but eventually, if not treated, she will die. So she will need to be alone."

"Leave it to me for having one of the _most_ difficult children on planet Earth. And leave it to _you-"_ Emily pointed at Octavius, "To be messing with shit that isn't yours. If you weren't messing with the symbiotes, then we wouldn't be in this situation!"

"And if I hadn't," Octavius countered, "Then we wouldn't have the greatest creation of all time. Think of it. Controlling a power like that, and we'd be unstoppable. Oscorp would rise to the top, crushing Stark Industries and Rand Corporation. We're talking _global domination._"

"Well, when you put it that way..."

"You guys are going to treat my sister like a puppet?"

Emily crossed her arms over her chest. "A puppet. The perfect definition."

**Hey, it's me again. So, oddly enough, I've starting recognizing old things (PM me for full deets). Anyway, I just love how twisted the story gets, with each word it leads you (and me!) into a darker side of all this. And the sad part of this, even though I know exactly how the story ends, I have no idea what will happen between the end and now. I mean, yeah, I sorta do, but the deets aren't exactly ****_concrete_**** as of yet.** **But if you got ideas, don't be afraid to voice 'em. I could really use some as of now. But please review, I really dig feedback!**

**Part 2 of the song selection above: I chose THIS particular song for a reason. So don't go screwing it up because curiousity killed your cat and you have to kill others to get yours back**. **Just listen to the original. No other options. Well, except one. You find a better song, you come and tell me. If I agree, I will post a notice in the next chapter. Final offer. Take it or leave it.**


	9. Scandalous

Peter tapped his pencil on his bed, looking down at his textbook. Deciding he was done, he slammed the book shut. Grabbing his backpack, he climbed out the window, changing into his Spider-Man costume. Jumping from building to building, he landed on top of a radio tower, looking down on the street below. He saw two men head into an alley, and he shot a web, swinging down to the ground next to it. Looking into the alley, he saw one of the men swinging around a long metal pole. Peter almost stepped in until a figure emerged from the shadows, covered in black. She wore a black mask, and sharp fingernails came out from her gloves. Peter clicked the communicator, and the team showed up on the screen.

"Do you see this?" Peter asked, looking into the alley, where the two men missed the woman as she nimbly deflected their shots. "What did I miss?"

"Who is that?" Ava squinted her eyes, trying to see better. "That's Anna, isn't it?"

"You're kidding, right? Please tell me she's kidding."

Peter woke up wtih a start, peeling his face off the textbook pages. Shaking his head, he looked around his room, where scattered projects took rule. His phone started ringing in his pocket. He pulled it out and answered it. "Hello?"

"Pete, where are you?" Luke asked. In the background, he could hear the others complaining. A sick feeling just came over him, and he ran to the bathroom. After a few minutes, Peter started speaking. "Luke, I don't think I'll make it."

"Hey, it's okay, Anna will sub for you, Pete," Luke waved it off. "Get better, man."

Anna was in her room, manipulating her symbiote to create a costume. It shifted through different ideas, until it rested on a Black Widow jumpsuit, with a black raven decorating the belt. A black mask shimmered onto her skin, and the suit came alive, streaks of black-blue racing down the sides. "Perfect."

In a puff of smoke, Anna found herself in Times Square, where a the team grouped together against The Living Laser. Everyone looked at her. "Any ideas?"

"Not a single one," Anna paused, covering her ears as a sonic boom echoed through the air. Charging towards the Laser, she delivered several fatal blows until the ground shaking knocked her off her feet. Looking at the road, she saw a red and yellow metal foot land next to her head.

"Need some help?" Sam asked, helping her up. Anna glared. "Apparently not."

"Who's that?" Anna pointed to the hero in metal. Everyone looked at her.

"You don't know who Iron Man is?" Ava asked. Anna shook her head. "Everyone here knows who he is. Hell, Danny knows who he is, and he's as reserved as they come."

"Who doesn't know who I am?" A cocky voice asked. Anna turned around, and Tony looked at her, a smirk on his face. "Do I know you?"

Anna tapped her face, and her mask shimmered away. "Why, Tony, long time, no see."

"Anna, you've grown."

"You know him?"

"Well, yeah," Anna shrugged her shoulders. "I've known him for years. He's my godfather."

Sam gave her a funny look. "How, in our near year long relationship, did you forget to mention that Tony Stark was your godfather?"

"My dad was close with him," Anna explained. "But when my mother went to work for Oscorp, dad sort of drifted away. I still visited, but then my mom found out, and told me I couldn't see him anymore."

"Harsh. Forbidding you to see your own godfather." Tony checked out Anna's costume. "Make it yourself?"

The suit disappeared, showing her street clothes. "Sorta."

"Interesting tech."

"That's not tech," Sam snorted. "More like unnatural superpowers. A symbiote from Oscorp melded to her. She's stuck with it. Kinda like we are with Spider-Man."

"Pepper's going to be so glad to see you," Tony said. "You've just grown so much."

After leaving, Luke looked at her. "That's just weird and unnatural. And why didn't you tell us?"

"I told you, it never came up. It's not like you guys were like, 'You wouldn't happen to be related to Tony Stark, wouldn't you?'" Anna replied sarcastically. "Besides, it's none of your business anyways."

"As your boyfriend, I think it would at least be my business."

Anna snorted. "Oh, bullshit, don't pull the boyfriend card on me. Just because we swapped spit doesn't mean you need to know every little detail of my personal life."

"Okay, that's gross," Ava scrunched her nose. "I did not need to know that."

"I also didn't need to know you use Danny's shirts in your gym clothes," Anna retorted. Even though she couldn't see, she knew Ava's face was red. "And I didn't even _want_ to know that."

"So, I hear you're looking for someone."

Emily smiled as she turned around. Behind her, were The Frightful Four. The woman, Thundra, had her arms crossed. "Yes, I am."

"Who would that be?" Thundra asked, twisting a chain in her hand.

"A young woman," Emily handed Thundra a picture."Who goes by the name of Anna Crawford, a.k.a Nightshade. She has something valuable, and I would like you to retrieve her at all costs. Bring her, and you will be rewarded handsomely."

"I'm here to see Tony Stark." Anna tapped her foot impatiently as the receptionist buzzed her in. At Tony's office, she opened the door, and Pepper was standing there, just staring at Anna. "Oh my God, you grew so much."

"Pepper!" Anna ran towards Pepper, wrapping her arms around her. "I haven't seen you in forever!"

"Me too!" Pepper said excitedly, squeezing Anna in a hug. "Where have you been for the past near decade? Eight or nine years?"

"Forbidden to see you guys," Anna said sadly, then perking up. "But I'm here now, so..."

"Don't go hogging her all to yourself, Pepper," Tony walked in, a smile on his face. "She's my goddaughter after all."

"And there's the CB I somehow remembered," Anna casually commented.

Pepper had a look of confusion on her face. "CB?"

"Cocky Bastard."

"Describes him perfectly," Pepper teased, slapping Tony playfully on the chest. He rolled his eyes.

"Oh, come on," Tony said. "Not _perfectly_."

"Yes, perfectly." Sam walked in, a smile on his face. Anna held his hand, and Tony gagged.

"Oh, come on," Anna complained. "You are no better."

"At least I don't do _that_." Tony gestured to the two, which Anna stuck her tongue out.

"How about lunch?" Pepper asked. "We were having hot dogs."

"Hot dogs?"

"She wasn't sure what you would eat," Tony explained, watching Pepper get out hot dogs and a pan. After placing the hot dogs to boil, she got out buns, and other things like relish, ketchup and mustard. "Your mother must be pissed that you're here."

"She's actually out of town," Anna said cheerfully. "Visiting family in Florida."

"Done." Pepper turned off the stove, making her plate. After everyone made their plate, they all sat down, eating and joking around.

"So when I walked in, he was disassembling the armor for the first time," Pepper continued. "And when I saw, he was like, 'Oh come on, this isn't the _worst_ thing you've caught me doing'."

"And then she asked, 'Are those _bullet holes_?'" Tony said, mimicking Pepper. She rolled her eyes, standing up and putting her plate in the sink.

"When Sam and I first met, I was actually on my way to Oscorp," Anna started. "When he spilled boiling hot coffee on me, ruining my shirt. He gave me his jacket to cover it up."

"Awww, so adorable." Pepper sat back down at the table.

"But when I was joining my brother for lunch at Midtown, he saw me again and asked me out on a date. We've been dating since. And even though Luke and Peter bug the hell out of me about it, I willingly went out with him. Sam told me that they even said that me going out with him was 'unrealistic'."

"How did you fare with the boiling coffee part?" Tony asked.

Anna didn't get a chance to answer when a pain went through her arm. She looked down, and a jagged cut went down her arm, and watched in relief as the skin knit itself back together. Pepper and Tony stared in shock.

"Oh my God, Anna, that's amazing," Pepper said, awestruck.

"Now _that's_ impressive," Tony agreed, leaning back in his chair. "I've never seen anything like that before."

"Well, neither has S.H.I.E.L.D. Wait, correct myself," Anna said. "Wolverine can heal like this."

"Wolverine? As in the mutant?" Sam asked. "Didn't Peter clash with him at one point?"

"Yeah." Anna checked her phone. "Sorry, Pepper, Tony. We have to go. Training."

"Come back to see us, Anna." Pepper hugged her, tucking a piece of paper into her pocket. "And text us when you can."

"Okay, I will," Anna promised, taking Sam's arm. "Let's go."

Emily slammed a palm down onto the table. "It was a simple task! How could you be so incompetent?"

"Let's just say when you said she'd be watched, you were not kidding." Thundra tossed pictures down on the table. "She's being watched by at least one person from S.H.I.E.L.D. at all times. And her annoying friend is always next to her."

Wizard stepped up to the table. "And when this boy isn't with her, he's always texting and calling her."

"Wait," Emily halted them. "It just hit me. This boy is her boyfriend. I can't believe I didn't know this before."

"Boyfriend? I don't understand." Thundra ran a hand through her hair.

"It's the term for a temporary partner in a somewhat intimate relationship," Emily said, a look of disgust on her face. "I thought with you being from the future, you would've at least heard of the term."

"Anyway, find him. Taking out anyone in the way is crucial to bringing her here." Emily pointed to the blurry figure in the picture. "Actually, bring them both here. I have an idea of what to do."

**Hey, me again. So, I want to put a plot twist into the story, but I don't know what kind. This is where you come in. There's a poll on my page. Once you find it, you can vote for the kind of twist you want. You can vote for up to two kinds, so choose wisely! And BTDubs, the reason why there's no song for this one chapter is because too many songs were fit for this one, and I couldn't decide. So, if you see a chapter with no song, that's why.**

**And before I forget, you know Marvel: Avengers Alliance? Yes, you know you do. Go to . Make an account and look me up on there. My username is psherman42wallabywaysydneynemo (I think. I haven't seen my full username.), and send me a friend request. I would love it if you'd be my ally on there.**

**And last but not least, I will not be updating until I see the polls answered AND reviews. Sorry I'm being bitchy, but I need to work on homeschooling, and unfortch, will not be able to update as often as I like. So, if you don't see an update by, oh say May 5, then that's what I'm doing. Homeschooling *sigh*. **


	10. What You Made Me Do

"Time for mother to come home." Emily dialed Anna's number on her phone. She listened to the ring.

"Hello?" Anna asked groggily. Emily heard someone talking in the background, and then Anna said, "Quiet, Sam. It's my mom calling."

"So, what's going on?" Emily asked, pacing the lab. "Where are you at?"

"Oh, I'm at a friend's place," Anna said. "I got locked out of the apartment."

"What? How?"

"Oh, I got mugged," Anna lied. "And they took my keys. And the keys you left me before you left are locked inside."

"Well, Sam didn't have a problem getting into our _locked apartment,_" Emily said accusingly, and she could hear laughter in the background. She then heard a _smack_ and Sam said, "Ow, that hurt!"

"Well, I'm back in New York," Emily said. After the laughter on the other end faded, Anna answered back, "Really?"

"Yeah," Emily confirmed. "And when I find you- I mean see you again, we can go and get an extra key made. Okay?"

"Sure," Anna said, hanging up. A little smirk lit up her face; things were about to get interesting.

As soon as Anna hung up, Sam nudged her arm. "I'm going to get you back."

"For what?"

"For hitting me. I swear to God, you're starting to take after Luke's super strength," Sam said, noticing the bruise already forming on his arm. Anna rolled her eyes, and an evil glint sparkled in Sam's eyes. Running his thumb over his tongue, he made a streak across Anna's forehead.

"Oh my god, that 's so disgusting!" Anna cried, wiping the spit off her forehead. "Do I _look _like Simba to you?"

"Maybe a little." Sam held his fingers an inch apart, and Anna stood up, going to the kitchen in the living area and washing her forehead.

"Hey, Anna," Ava called, leaning on the doorway. "Can I steal you away for a couple minutes?"

"Yeah sure." Anna turned the water off, leaving the room and joining Ava in hers. Sitting cross-legged on Ava's bed, Anna asked, "So, what's up?"

"I heard something," Ava said, guilt written all over her face. "Something you're not gonna like."

"What?"

"Well," Ava took a breath. "I was passing by the conference room on the way back from training. And I saw Coulson and Fury arguing. Coulson kept telling Fury, 'You can't keep lying to her. She'll eventually find out'. Fury said, 'But she won't. Because her recruitment circumstances are top secret. They are locked under the highest of security'. So naturally, I hid next to the conference room, listening to the rest of the conversation.

"Anyway," Ava took another deep breath. "So Fury kept saying that 'She wouldn't find out.', and Coulson kept arguing back. Until your name was mentioned. Fury then told him, 'Anna is never to know the circumstances of her recruitment. Nobody except you and me.' That's where it got interesting. Couslon said, 'Sam knows. I told him myself, because with him being close to her, I believed he should know'. And at that point, and pardon my French, shit hit the fan, and I got the hell out of there."

"Two things." Anna held up two fingers. "One, I cannot believe you could say things like 'hell' and 'damn', but you are reserved when it comes to 'shit'. And two, why would my recruitment circumstances be confidential?"

"I thought the same thing too," Ava answered. "So, I looked up your recruitment data. And that set off the firewall alarm. Fury came and questioned the hell out of me. I told him you couldn't find your info in there, so I was helping you. He told me it was confidential. And then told me to leave it alone."

"I'm going to talk to Connors," Anna said distractedly, standing up and heading to the tech lab. Connors greeted her with a friendly wave, then went back to work. "Doctor Connors, can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

"Can you help me make a ghost drive?" Anna asked, holding up designs. "I need one to copy information from Doctor Dark's compter drive."

"Sure, bring those over here." Bringing over a flash drive and component charts, the two worked on the ghost drive, setting the drive down to cool to cool it off. "Now, you need to wait for a couple hours for the components to set. But otherwise, it's set."

"Thank you, Doctor Connors," Anna thanked him, putting away the designs. "I'll be going now."

"Ms. Crawford, what's the need for one now?" Connors asked, moving the drive over to a different counter. "You weren't supposed to need this for a while."

"Progressing faster than expected," Anna said, her smile strained. "Have to go."

After making an awkward exit, Anna changed quickly into her Oscorp lab outfit, teleporting to outside of Oscorp. An impatient Dr. Dark stood outside, tapping his foot. "You're late, Veronica."

"Traffic!" Anna joked, waving her keys in the air. Hiding her face from the camera, Anna walked quickly through the front entrance. Entering his exam room, Anna was handed a rag and a cleaner.

"The sanitizer had a little mess and the windows were messed up," he explained. "I need you to clean them. But beware, if the sanitizer starts up, you need to get out. A special nitrogen-fluroform gas mix is used to sanitize the tools, and it's lethal if inhaled."

"Yes sir," Anna said, heading to the large chamber. She opened the door, and the cool air of the spacious chamber blasted out, and she stepped in, spraying the glass, cleaning the film off the windows. After a few hours, Dr. Dark pointed at the clock, signaling shutdown time.

Relieved, Anna made her way back to the door. As she opened it, the gears grinded, slamming the door on her foot. The force sent her flying, landing on her back. Hitting the glass, Anna got Dr. Dark's attention, and he set emergency shutdown on the room. The door drifted open, and Anna limped out the door, her foot catching the stair. She landed on her chest. "Ow."

"Veronica, are you alright?" Dr. Dark asked, helping Anna to her feet. "I was cleaning the control panel and the door button got hit."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Anna winced, looking at her foot. "My foot? Not so much."

"I would get it checked."

"I believe that would be in order." Anna left, limping through the rain to an alley, where she teleported to the Helicarrier.

"Why are you soaking wet?" Sam asked, holding a bowl of candy and popcorn. The living area was empty,

"Because I walked here in the rain," Anna answered sarcastically. Stripping off the wet jacket and shirt, she stood in jeans and a clingy tank top. Limping over to the sink, she wrung out her hair. Sitting down in a chair, Anna took off her sneakers and socks, and one foot was swelling, the skin diiferent shade of red and blue. "Grab me an ice pack and the Ace wrap, would you?"

"What happened?"

"Tripped."

"Tripped my ass," Sam said. "What really happened?"

"My foot got caught in a door," Anna explained. Sam sat down in front of her, taking the wrap and wrapping her foot in gauze. "And it hurt like a bitch."

"Well, I bet it would," Sam said, standing up with his bowl and moving to the couch. Giving him a dirty look, Anna stood up, walking stiffly to the couch and collapsing onto Sam's lap.

"So, what are we watching?" Anna asked, grabbing a candy bar from the bowl. After the opening sequence, Anna whined. "This is War of the Worlds? You know I can't stand this movie."

"And that's why I picked it," Sam said proudly. "So that the strong boyfriend could make his girlfriend less scared."

"Yeah right." Anna leaned her head on his chest. "You know, the rain had me freezing."

Sam draped a blanket over her legs. "Now watch the movie."

Emily stood in the rain, the communicator blinking rapidly. She looked around, but Anna was nowhere. She looked up. "I figured as much."

People passed by, gawking at her clothes. Blood dripped off her. When she got into her apartment, a woman named Stacey was startled after her entrance. Recognizing her, Stacey fought to the death. _Her death_, Emily thought, watching the blood mix with the water. _There will be blood in the water. Then the sharks will come. _

Heading back into the apartment, copious amounts of blood spattered the wall. A little bit too much for her taste; Emily plugged her nose at the smell. Running her hand along the wall, she left a message before hitting the alarm. As the alarm rang, Emily admired her handiwork. L_ook what you made me do._

"And to introduce," Connors whipped the cover off his latest creation. "The Grid Bike."

"OhmyGod, I love it!" Anna squealed, climbing on the bike. "It looks just like the light cycles from Tron!" Anna noticed, gripping the handles in the front wheel. Connors held up a small glossy black cylinder.

"It even forms and shrinks like the light cycle." Connors gave the cylinder to Anna. She twisted each side, pulled them apart, and the bike materialized. Black with dark blue streaks on the sides. Twisting the handles and pushing them together, the bike became a cylinder again. "My gift to you."

"Thank you so much!" Anna called, running down the hall to the living area. Finding the team in there, she knocked, gathering their attention. "Who wants to race?"

"Who's betting?" Luke and Peter asked, giving her devilish looks. Waving the cylinder, lights sparkled in their eyes. "That? What would that be?"

Anna turned on the bike, and it's black glory filled the entryway. Peter nearly passed out. "The Grid Bike, ladies and gentlemen. Now, who's racing?"

"Rules!" Ava called out. "There is one: no using powers in racing, with the exception to Buckethead."

Sam glared at her. Everyone was scattered on the building tops, air, and street. The lights turned green, and everyone was off, racing back to the park. Anna focused on the street, on either side of her was Peter with the Spider Cycle, and Luke with the Power Bike. They darted between each other on the street. A large truck loomed in front of them. Getting closer and closer, the looks between them intensified. Peter hit four wheel button, and started speeding towards the truck. Luke decided to dodge it. Anna primed her moment, then pushed down, hard. The bike flew into the air, landing on the truck. It sped across the top, leaving a light streak. At the edge of the top, Anna shut it down, jumping off the edge and turning it back on just as it hit the ground, drawing oohs and aahs from the crowd. Peter and Luke were far behind her. Hitting the pixellate button, the bike started to pixellate, then disappeared, reappearing at various places along their "track". At the entrance, Iron Fist stood, ready to announce the winner. Anna raced through the entrance.

"Congratulations," Danny said, high-fiving Anna. Everyone else arrived at least ten minutes later. Peter went wide-eyed at her.

"B-but, how..." Peter said, stumbling over his words. Anna patted his shoulder. "I understand you don't take losing too well," Anna said with a straight face.

"Let's go back," Ava said. "Game Night tonight, remember?"

"I need some pain pills." Peter stretched himself out on a park bench.

"Pain pills? Don't you mean bitch mints?" Anna asked sarcastically. "Oh, I'm stopping by my apartment."

"See you back at the Helicarrier," Sam said, flying off. Ava and Danny disappeared.

"What the hell is your problem?" Anna asked. "You're moodier than... Ugh, I can't even make a comparison to anything!"

"Maybe it's because you're a pain in the ass." Peter sat up. "Just spitballing here."

"I'm leaving," Anna huffed, disappearing in a puff of smoke. "When you wanna talk, you know where to find me."

The overwhelming smell of blood was one of the many strange things in the apartment. Looking around, blood was splattered on the walls. A variety of bloodied weapons were scattered around the floor. But the most odd thing was the chair in the middle of the room, with a person sitting in it. Anna walked around the room, instantly figuring out the person in the chair. "Mom?"

"Not quite," her voice echoed. "Would happen to be a woman named Stacey. You wouldn't happen to know her, would you?"

"Oh my God." Anna rocked back and forth on her heels. "Stacey."

Emily appeared from the shadows. "Now what did I say about lying to me?"

"Mom?"

"Ah, yes," Emily said dismissively. "Mother. Such an incorrect term."

"What do you mean?" Anna stood up, wiping the tears off her face. Emily sighed in disappointment.

"I expected what with you and all of the people associated with S.H.I.E.L.D., you would've at least figured it out by now."

"Huh?"

Cornering Anna, Emily drew out a demonglass dagger. Sticking it in her stomach, Anna screamed out in pain. As she tried to remove it, her fingertips started to smoke. Emily sighed. "That's pointless. The entire thing's raw demonglass. You touch that, and your skin will burn."

Finding a clean-ish area of wall to lean, Emily looked at her nails. "No one ever told you. Not even me. But I won't tell you. Because then the plan won't be in order. I will tell you when I am standing over you, watching you slowly die. Then I will tell you.

"If you happen to survive this, then I bet you'll tell everyone what I said. Then they will do everything in their power to protect the Weapon, but their efforts will be pointless. In the end, everyone you know will be dead, and you will watch as the world crumbles." Emily checked her watch. "I have to go."

"What about me?" Anna asked, attempting to remove the blade but ending up burning her fingers again. Emily just walked over and ripped the knife out.

"Help yourself."

And with that, Emily left, dropping the knife. Anna started gasping for air, clutching her stomach, blood pouring freely from between her fingers. Her vision went blurry as the red mixed with the black and white of her clothes. The nausea rolled over Anna, and she fell, looking up at the ceiling. A sudden thought entered her head. _The alarm._ Kicking the balcony door with her heel, the glass shattered, and the alarm rang.

Danny was with Fury at the time when the alarm went off. Fury looked at him. "I'll go check it out."

As he stood at her door, a strange feeling came over him. _What's going on in there? The energy coming from there, it's strange. _

When he got in there, he felt a strange aura in the air. After getting a really good look around, he commed for a cleanup team. Finding Anna asleep in the corner, Danny sat down on the couch in the Lotus, closing his eyes and meditating. He was sucked into blackness, where there were three people. Him, Anna and a cloaked figure.

"You haven't seen me before?" the man asked her. Anna shook her head. "It is of no matter. I will take what I came for. The memory and agony of your death in exchange for another chance."

"What is he talking about?" Danny asked himself. The cloaked figure looked directly at him. In a dark tone, he growled, "This isn't your matter, Iron Fist. Leave, while I still allow it."

"Danny, what are you doing here?" Anna asked, looking down at her bloodstained clothes.

"How do you know me?"

"I know all beings," The cloaked figure answered. "I am the Death Stealer."

Turning back to Anna, the Death Stealer held up a hand. She rose slowly into the air, and a blue stream of light was sucked out of her body, forming a ball in his hand. He crushed it. Then ashimmery white light floated from him to her, making up for the lost part. "You can leave now."

Danny opened his eyes. Anna rolled over, the blood staining her clothes fading away. Her eyes opened, the brown slowly darkening to a dark brown. "What are you doing here?"

"Fury sent me over here." Danny looked at the broken door. "The alarm went off. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Danny looked at her. "Honest."

Anna looked wistfully at Stacey. Tears sprang to her eyes. So many that she almost didn't notice the piece of paper stickng out of her hand. Gingerly pulling apart Stacey's fingers, a piece of paper fluttered to the floor. Looking at the paper, it had a few words and an address. It said _1918 Willow Street. There is more to you than you know._

"Let's go," Danny said, moving out of the way for the cleanup team. "We need to go."

Anna snapped out of it. "Yeah sure."

Danny looked at Anna with concern. He believed that there was to more to her than even _she_ knew about. All the way back to the Helicarrier, her fingers trembled, a slip of paper in her hand. As soon as he was back in his room, he pulled out his book from K'un L'un, flipping through the pages. None of them said anything about the Death Stealer. But he stumbled across a page in the back of the book titled _Anna and Eden_. He read it.

_Anna and Eden is the fictional legend of the Elementals. It began in Greece, where a woman by the name of Άννα, which later translated to Anna, visited an oracle about a strange cloaked man she saw. The oracle asked her to explain, and when she did, she talked of a strange man who went by the name _Θάνατος Υποκλοπέας, _which later translated into Death Stealer. In her experience, Άννα had been in a horrible accident, which unknowingly ended her life. But this strange man offered her another chance. She took it, and after waking up, became scared and told the oracle. frightened that she'd be persecuted, Άννα left, traveling the world looking for others like her. In Africa, she met a man named _Εδέμ, _which later translated to Eden. He claimed to have come from Greece, leaving because he was different. Eden and Anna found out they were the same, and they traveled the world, looking for answers. Nobody could tell them anything, so the two became outcasts, masking their identities and traveling the world, helping mankind. Eden and Anna went back to Greece, where Eden posed as a young strongman. This is believed to have started the Hercules myth, but in truth, no such person existed. Anna strayed away from Eden, slowly turning dark, her powers taking on a more sinister form. Eden stayed good, his powers becoming the ones to help people. _

_Anna represented the dark half of everything, being capable of just about anything, from helping humans to wreaking havoc. Many natural disasters are the cause of this. Eden represented the light half, capable of helping human and animal kind. He could've been capable of Anna's powers, but chose to remain good for the sake of humanity. The Greek version of this tale was the only known version discovered. It is possible that other cultures would have different versions of the same story, but none have been discovered to this day. _

Danny shut the book. Reading that still didn't give him closure.


	11. Scary Thoughts

server4600/fca2f/products/72/images/318/off_black_ hair_extensions_2_37095.1335620602.1280.

**Song choice- Fine China by Chris Brown**

Sam paced the living area. Him and Anna had barely talked in the two months she'd been there. And now she was leaving. Granted it was back to her apartment, but they still barely talked. If not, he'd actually caught her spending more time with Danny and the others. She even spent more time with Parker, and she hated his guts.

Grabbing his backpack, Sam put his helmet on and flew out to the apartment. The glass back patio door showed Anna sitting at the bar, eating something from a bowl. A magazine was spread out next to the bowl. Her hair fluttered gently as she read the pages, occasionally eating from the bowl. Landing quietly on the balcony, Sam hid behind the blinds when Anna looked out, quickly going back to her magazine. He knocked on the door, startling her and spilling the cereal from her bowl.

The door flew open. "Damn it! You made me spill my cereal. Oh, gross, it's all sticky now!"

"Sorry." Sam stepped in, taking off the Nova suit. "I came to see you."

"Well, you can sit there," Anna pointed to the couch, "And wait. I need to go clean up."

Sam took a seat on the couch as Anna stormed into the bathroom. The shower turned on, and Sam sighed. I'm going to be here a while. He stood up, walking around the living room while she showered. After cleaning up the mess, Sam picked up the magazine Anna was reading. Turning to the cover, Sam saw a model on the front. The name Cosmopolitan was printed across the top. "Put that down!"

Anna stood in the hallway, wrapped in a blue towel. Her black hair was plastered to her arms and back. She looked pissed. Sam cocked an eyebrow. "What?"

Anna crossed her arms as the towel started inching down. "My number one rule?"

Sam's face fell. "Don't touch-"

"My stuff!" Anna finished, storming back to her room. "Ορκίζομαι στον Δία, σαςμε ενοχλούν!"

"What the hell was that?"

Coming back to the kitchen, Anna was wearing a I Heart NYC shirt with denim shorts and tennis shoes. "I don't really know."

"Where are you going?"

"I have to be-" Anna snapped her fingers. "-somewhere in a little while, but how about we take a walk?"

"Sure."

Whistling a high note into the air, Anna grabbed a harness and leash off the wall. A small dog sauntered in, bouncing as she put his harness on. "When did you get a dog?"

"Oh, I didn't," she said matter-of-factly. "It's a neighbor's dog. They are paying me to take care of him while they're gone."

Sam knelt down to the floor to pet him, and the dog rolled over. "What's his name?"

"I'm thinking it's either Snowball or Brain. He responds to both names." Anna hooked the leash to the harness. "Come on, let's go. Your owners are waiting."

"Are you sure this is the place?" Sam asked. "It doesn't look like the place that they described."

Anna looked up at the worn down building. Several windows were broken, and trash fluttered between the weeds. She looked down at the paper with the address. "Well, this _is _the address. And how would you know what the place looks like? You weren't there."

The puppy started to whine. Anna picked him up, cradling him close to her chest. "Let's go to the park. We'll wait there."

"Good call," Sam replied sarcastically.

"I don't want any of your feedback, smartass. You didn't have to come."

A little while later, the trio sat in the park. The puppy played in the grass, while Anna and Sam were in the middle of a heated argument.

"Why on God's green Earth would you consider hacking S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database?" Sam scolded Anna. "They would roast you alive."

"Ava told me that it was intentional that I would not know why I was recruited. I just want a little information," Anna muttered the last part, looking down to her shoes.

"Why can't you just _ask_?" Sam asked sarcastically. "They would probably tell you."

"Because that worked out so well last time," Anna snapped. "Well, whatever," Anna sighed. "I have to go."

Scooping up the dog, Anna walked back to the apartment. Unleashing the puppy, he ran to his water bowl. Sweeping her hand the room, it cleaned itself, returning everything back to it's place. Collapsing on the couch, Anna looked outside, and it started to rain. The steady beat of the rain soon drifted her off to sleep.

Eden sat in his room, jotting down numbers. Standing up and walking to a corkboard, he reviewed his notes. Several pages covered the board, ranging from modernized tales to recent sightings of her. In the middle of the board together, was a simple name. Anna. On the table below it, a laptop sat, and several videos flitted across the screen. Clicking play, Eden sat down, watching in disinterest. _It will be just like last time, where this lead was a dead end._ His attention was drawn in as the newest video played a teenage girl summoning dark elements like fire to her hands. A masked assailant (he was old fashioned) threw dark colored knives at the girl. She caught one, until her hand started to smoke.

Pausing the video, Eden walked over to a glass case, where an athame made of dark matter sat on a pedestal. Reaching in, Eden's fingertips brushed the smooth demonglass, and his fingers started to singe. Turning back to the computer, he pulled up her picture. Her name made him laugh. Anna Crawford. How original.

Packing a simple suitcase, Eden printed the girl's picture off his laptop. And judging from the video background, he already knew where to begin.

Anna's mind drifted off the paper she was grading as she thought of that weird dream. _Who was he? He had all these things about her, pinned up on the wall like some kind of sick trophy. _She shook her head as she replaced the cap on the pen. Blinking the sleep out of her eyes, Anna slowly put her things back in the tote she carried. Pulling down her sleeve, she looked at the clean surface of her wrist. When she visited Tony a few days ago, she had asked that he remove the sick green radioactive tattoo on her wrist. He did, questioning about it, but she dodged his questions, not wanting to be under the spotlight. Brain barked at the door, and she stood up, going over and opening the door catiously. Nobody was there, so she shut the door. The phone rang. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's me."

"Sam, I'm not sure I want to talk to you right now. I'm still pissed at you."

"When are you going to forgive me? I didn't know you meant that. I thought that you were going to snoop around."

"I wanted to get a little information, not that it's any of your damn business."

Anna heard an exasperated sigh over the phone. "Anna..."

"Don't Anna me!" She snapped. "Are you hiding something?"

"No!" Sam denied. "I am not."

"Well, then why are you trying to stop me?" Anna pressed. "If you didn't know anything, you would be helping me, not stopping me. Which means you are hiding something."

Silenceon the other end. Frustrated, Anna hung up, resisting the urge to throw the phone. Instead, she set down calmly on the counter, then sat back down on the couch.

Anna let the tears slide down her cheeks. At the beginning of their relationship, the two had agreed that there would be no secrets between them. So what could he be hiding?

"He is a boy of many secrets," a calm voice resounded through the room. Looking up, Anna saw the boy from her dream. _Eden._ "In opinion, if he can't tell you the truth, he shouldn't be with you."

"How did you-"

"The beautiful ring you wear," Eden gestured to her hand. Anna held up her hand. Sam's ring with its little comets glinted in the light.

"I just want to know what he knows," Anna sniffled, wiping her nose with her shirt. She then realized that it was a nasty decision, but she didn't care at the moment. "He refuses to tell me."

"I could make him tell you."

"Really? How?"

"The limitations of my powers prevent me from doing so, but I can teach you. Πολλά χρόνια πριν, ήταν κύριος αυτής της τέχνης, αγαπητέ Άννα μου."

Anna blushed. "Πώς θα μπορούσε να είναι ο πλοίαρχος του κάτι που δεν μπορώ να θυμηθώ, Εδέμ; Ήταν πολύ καιρό πριν," Anna replied fluently, covering her mouth in shock. What was that?

"That, my dear Anna, would be _our _native tongue," Eden smiled mysteriously. "Greek."

"This is amazing!" Anna exclaimed. "I didn't know I could do that."

"There are many things you can do," Eden said mysteriously. "You just don't know you are capable of it yet."

"When can you teach me?" Anna asked, looking out to empty air. She all of a sudden felt a rush of power through her veins, leaving her hands tingling. Standing up, she felt determination race through her fingertips. She had a mission to take care of.

**Hola, it's moi again! I hope this chapter sates you for a while, because I bring sad news. Thanks to my (pardon any language) dumbass landlords, I have to move. They sold the house I am currently living in, and I have to be out by June. So, this may or may not be the last chapter for a while. This Eden is going to be a recurring character from here on, and he's got more in common with a certain someone- Anna- than a certain other person- Sam- wants to admit. So get ready for some fights! Yeah! I mean, I'm not one for watching people fight, but the fights between these two will be... I shall say interesting. The link at the top, if you haven't seen it already, is the link to the person who I've finally decided would play Anna. **


	12. Who Am I Living For?

**Song- Who Am I Living For? by Katy Perry**

"Dude, what the hell is your problem?"

"Yeah, Sam, you've been staring at them all afternoon."

"Why are you upset, friend? Is something bothering you?"

Sam spun around. "Yes, something is bothering me. Anna and I got into a fight. Now she won't talk to me, and she's been hanging around the new student all afternoon. I'm pissed."

"He's jealous," Peter whispered discreetly into Luke's ear. Luke snorted. "Tell me something I don't know."

"Just let her cool off," Ava suggested. "Maybe you offended her by saying something that made her upset."

"But I did," Sam sighed. "I told her I wasn't helping her snoop around S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database."

He looked over across the cafeteria, where the new kid and Anna were sitting together and laughing. Laughing? Why the hell is she laughing?

Storming over to their table, Sam started hearing bits and pieces of the conversation. Some parts were English, but the rest? Who knew? Oh, that's right. They did.

"So, uh, what'cha doing?" Sam asked, choosing each word carefully. Anna threw him a sideways glance.

"I'm in no mood to talk to you right now," Anna spat, nudging the new guy on the shoulder. "Εδέμ, αυτή είναι η δική μου αγόρι, Σαμ."

In a accented voice, the new kid said, "It is so nice to finally meet the boyfriend. I've heard many... interesting things about you." Turning back to Anna, he, in a different language, asked her, "Είναι ο ίδιος ο guy που είναι ξαπλωμένος σε εσάς, κυρία Άννα; Τι είναι ο ίδιος που προεκτείνεται περίπου, εάν δεν ενοχλούν ζητώντας."

"I'll explain later," Anna muttered, dumping her tray. "Let's go, Eden."

The two then stood up and walked off, whispering to each other, and Eden throwing a backward glance at him. Sam walked back to the table defeatedly.

"Looks like you lost that conversation," Peter snorted, looking down at his food to avoid Sam's icy glare. "What? Just saying."

"Well, you can put your 'just saying' somewhere else. I don't want to hear it."

The group spent the rest of their lunch in silence.

Eden handed Anna a pen. "First part of learning," he said grandly, "is that you have to know where everything is. You are going to take this pen and draw on my skin where you think where all the blood veins are."

"You sure?" Anna eyed the pen. "I'm not sure I can. I'm not a very good artist."

"Don't worry, take all the time you need, Αγαπητέ Άννα μου. I have faith in you."

Setting his arm on the counter, Anna started frantically drawing lines across his skin, being careful to outline all the veins in his hand. After two hours (Anna checked), she finally capped the pen, sitting back. "Done."

"Good work!" Eden clapped. "Now, you need to focus. I made you draw the veins because the art you, Αγαπητέ Άννα μου, perfected was something called κάμψη του αίματος."

"Blood bending? Now you are starting to sound like the crazy woman off of Avatar: The Last Airbender."

"You originally called it body bending because you could control people with the flick of your wrist. But when you disappeared, you disappeared around the time where people discovered that it was the water in their blood that had you controlling their movements. It then lead to the ridiculous period in history where people in Egypt began mummifying people so you couldn't raise the dead."

Anna laughed, covering her mouth. "Is that why Egyptians did that? Because of me?"

"Yes," Eden laughed. Someone knocked on the door. "I better go."

"Anna! Open up!"

Looking at the other end of the counter, Eden was gone. Opening the door, Sam stood on the other side, his brown eyes looking at hers. "What do you want?"

"I came here to apologize," he answered curtly, looking down to the ground. Anna laughed.

"No."

Sam looked at her with pleading eyes. "Why not?"

"Because you don't want to be put my position and realize that you're wrong."

He pushed past her and walked inside. "Well, maybe my pride got in the way."

"Damn right it did!" Anna yelled. "You were being completely insensitive!"

"I know and I'm sorry!" Sam yelled back. So he wanted a shouting match. He wasn't getting one. "You need to keep your voice down."

"Why?" Sam backed her up against a wall. "Because it pisses you off?"

"Yes, it does." Anna ground out, keeping her voice low. "It's also because other people live here too."

"Or maybe it's because you're too scared to rise to the challenge and do something about it," Sam glared at her. Now she was getting pissed.

"Well maybe it's because being lied to doesn't exactly bring happiness to me like it does to you." Anna glared back. She struck a nerve with him.

"You take that back," Sam growled. He was done playing games now.

"Why, does it piss you off?" Anna asked, turning the tables on him. "Or is it because you're too scared to rise to the challenge and do something about it?"

"I'm not scared." Anna pushed him against the wall. Getting in his face, she whispered, "Then do something about it."

Anna then stormed to her room, shutting and locking it behind her. Sam stood against the wall, mind racing.

What the hell just happened? Sam thought.

Emily sat on the bench in front of her old apartment. She played with her fake brown hair, hoping to confirm a suspicion she had. After her brother had outgrown his usefulness, Emily disposed of him. At this point, she was growing desperate. Anna was never alone now. If this kept up, the plan she had elaborately set up was going to crumble in front of her eyes.

"Target has not approached desired destination, over," Emily said into her phone. She heard an exasperated sigh on the other end.

"I have grown tired of your endless games, Emily the Strange," Octavius growled. "We should be in Phase two by now."

"Phase one is taking much longer than expected, as you well know." Emily checked the building again. The only interesting thing she saw was Anna's neighbor taking out the trash. Suddenly, she heard barking from the apartment. Standing up, Emily said, "I'm going into the apartment. Over."

Boots tapped steadily against the metal stairs. When she reached the top, she stuck her key in the lock, only to realize Anna changed the lock. "God damn it."

"Is there something I can help you with?" a man asked behind her. Looking at him, Emily was internally repulsed. The man was disgusting; pot belly, stained shirt.

"Uh, yeah," Emily stammered. "The girl here watches my dog. I just got back to town and I'd like to pick him up."

"Okay, sure, give me a sec," the man said, going back inside his apartment and emerging with a key. "This should do for you-"

Gunshots filled the air. The man dropped to the ground, silent as the dead. Literally. Tossing the gun into his garbage, she dug her nails into her fingers and took off fake fingerprints, tossing them in too. She dragged the body back into his apartment, and left him on the floor. Unlike last time, she didn't have a lot of blood to write her message with. Finding a computer, she typed out a short message, and hit print. The smell got to her nose, and she nearly threw up. It was absolutely disgusting. Snatching the key from his hand, she walked across the way to the door to Anna's apartment, sticking in the key. It fit perfectly. After she opened the door, a small dog emerged from nowhere, growling and barking at her.

"Be quiet," Emily ordered, tossing a toy in the dog's direction. When he picked it up, he scampered off. She stalked through the house silently, going from room to room. Nothing really stood out. Everything was clean. A pile of clothes in the bathroom.

"Hurry up!" Octavius demanded. "NYPD are headed in your direction. Neighbor called in the gunshots. They're going to be there any minute."

The doorknob started jiggling. "So is she!"

Hiding in the hall closet, the door opened. Police officers opened the door, cautiously entering the apartment, guns drawn. When they didn't see anything, they left. Emily emerged from the closet, breathing a sigh of relief. That was too close.

Anna sat on her bed. The door slammed in the living room. Emotions boiled over the surface, and a mass of dark energy radiated off of her.

"Ugh!" Anna yelled out loud, sending the energy everywhere. The room shook. "Why does my life have to be so damn difficult?"

Several things were hanging off the wall. Looking at the wall, Anna stood up, placing things back on the wall. She smacked a board in the wall, and it fell off, where an envelope and a bunch of papers were hiding. She scanned the papers, and her name was printed across the top, along with several other things. One paper in particular was a birth certificate. Another was a hand written letter on faded yellow notebook paper.

"You know, someone once told me not to mess with the stitches of the past. I not only messed with them, I ripped them all out with a damn seam ripper."

Anna's head started to pound. She felt the familiar blackness start to creep into the edges of her vision. All of a sudden she blacked out, her ribcage clipping the footboard of the bed. Her consciousness was pushed to the back of her mind, and a darker, more sinister one took it's place.

"Anna?" Sam pounded on the door. "What's going on in there?"

That was the last she remembered.

**Hey you guys! So, I just wanted to let you know that moving is taking a hell of a lot longer than expected (seriously, I'm using my grandma's computer since I have no internet), so I decided to update. Please review! I will take light criticism.**

"Dude, what the hell is your problem?"

"Yeah, Sam, you've been staring at them all afternoon."

"Why are you upset, friend? Is something bothering you?"

Sam spun around. "Yes, something is bothering me. Anna and I got into a fight. Now she won't talk to me, and she's been hanging around the new student all afternoon. I'm pissed."

"He's jealous," Peter whispered discreetly into Luke's ear. Luke snorted. "Tell me something I don't know."

"Just let her cool off," Ava suggested. "Maybe you offended her by saying something that made her upset."

"But I did," Sam sighed. "I told her I wasn't helping her snoop around S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database."

He looked over across the cafeteria, where the new kid and Anna were sitting together and laughing. Laughing? Why the hell is she laughing?

Storming over to their table, Sam started hearing bits and pieces of the conversation. Some parts were English, but the rest? Who knew? Oh, that's right. They did.

"So, uh, what'cha doing?" Sam asked, choosing each word carefully. Anna threw him a sideways glance.

"I'm in no mood to talk to you right now," Anna spat, nudging the new guy on the shoulder. "Εδέμ, αυτή είναι η δική μου αγόρι, Σαμ."

In a accented voice, the new kid said, "It is so nice to finally meet the boyfriend. I've heard many... interesting things about you." Turning back to Anna, he, in a different language, asked her, "Είναι ο ίδιος ο guy που είναι ξαπλωμένος σε εσάς, κυρία Άννα; Τι είναι ο ίδιος που προεκτείνεται περίπου, εάν δεν ενοχλούν ζητώντας."

"I'll explain later," Anna muttered, dumping her tray. "Let's go, Eden."

The two then stood up and walked off, whispering to each other, and Eden throwing a backward glance at him. Sam walked back to the table defeatedly.

"Looks like you lost that conversation," Peter snorted, looking down at his food to avoid Sam's icy glare. "What? Just saying."

"Well, you can put your 'just saying' somewhere else. I don't want to hear it."

The group spent the rest of their lunch in silence.

Eden handed Anna a pen. "First part of learning," he said grandly, "is that you have to know where everything is. You are going to take this pen and draw on my skin where you think where all the blood veins are."

"You sure?" Anna eyed the pen. "I'm not sure I can. I'm not a very good artist."

"Don't worry, take all the time you need, Αγαπητέ Άννα μου. I have faith in you."

Setting his arm on the counter, Anna started frantically drawing lines across his skin, being careful to outline all the veins in his hand. After two hours (Anna checked), she finally capped the pen, sitting back. "Done."

"Good work!" Eden clapped. "Now, you need to focus. I made you draw the veins because the art you, Αγαπητέ Άννα μου, perfected was something called κάμψη του αίματος."

"Blood bending? Now you are starting to sound like the crazy woman off of Avatar: The Last Airbender."

"You originally called it body bending because you could control people with the flick of your wrist. But when you disappeared, you disappeared around the time where people discovered that it was the water in their blood that had you controlling their movements. It then lead to the ridiculous period in history where people in Egypt began mummifying people so you couldn't raise the dead."

Anna laughed, covering her mouth. "Is that why Egyptians did that? Because of me?"

"Yes," Eden laughed. Someone knocked on the door. "I better go."

"Anna! Open up!"

Looking at the other end of the counter, Eden was gone. Opening the door, Sam stood on the other side, his brown eyes looking at hers. "What do you want?"

"I came here to apologize," he answered curtly, looking down to the ground. Anna laughed.

"No."

Sam looked at her with pleading eyes. "Why not?"

"Because you don't want to be put my position and realize that you're wrong."

He pushed past her and walked inside. "Well, maybe my pride got in the way."

"Damn right it did!" Anna yelled. "You were being completely insensitive!"

"I know and I'm sorry!" Sam yelled back. So he wanted a shouting match. He wasn't getting one. "You need to keep your voice down."

"Why?" Sam backed her up against a wall. "Because it pisses you off?"

"Yes, it does." Anna ground out, keeping her voice low. "It's also because other people live here too."

"Or maybe it's because you're too scared to rise to the challenge and do something about it," Sam glared at her. Now she was getting pissed.

"Well maybe it's because being lied to doesn't exactly bring happiness to me like it does to you." Anna glared back. She struck a nerve with him.

"You take that back," Sam growled. He was done playing games now.

"Why, does it piss you off?" Anna asked, turning the tables on him. "Or is it because you're too scared to rise to the challenge and do something about it?"

"I'm not scared." Anna pushed him against the wall. Getting in his face, she whispered, "Then do something about it."

Anna then stormed to her room, shutting and locking it behind her. Sam stood against the wall, mind racing.

What the hell just happened? Sam thought.

Emily sat on the bench in front of her old apartment. She played with her fake brown hair, hoping to confirm a suspicion she had. After her brother had outgrown his usefulness, Emily disposed of him. At this point, she was growing desperate. Anna was never alone now. If this kept up, the plan she had elaborately set up was going to crumble in front of her eyes.

"Target has not approached desired destination, over," Emily said into her phone. She heard an exasperated sigh on the other end.

"I have grown tired of your endless games, Emily the Strange," Octavius growled. "We should be in Phase two by now."

"Phase one is taking much longer than expected, as you well know." Emily checked the building again. The only interesting thing she saw was Anna's neighbor taking out the trash. Suddenly, she heard barking from the apartment. Standing up, Emily said, "I'm going into the apartment. Over."

Boots tapped steadily against the metal stairs. When she reached the top, she stuck her key in the lock, only to realize Anna changed the lock. "God damn it."

"Is there something I can help you with?" a man asked behind her. Looking at him, Emily was internally repulsed. The man was disgusting; pot belly, stained shirt.

"Uh, yeah," Emily stammered. "The girl here watches my dog. I just got back to town and I'd like to pick him up."

"Okay, sure, give me a sec," the man said, going back inside his apartment and emerging with a key. "This should do for you-"

Gunshots filled the air. The man dropped to the ground, silent as the dead. Literally. Tossing the gun into his garbage, she dug her nails into her fingers and took off fake fingerprints, tossing them in too. She dragged the body back into his apartment, and left him on the floor. Unlike last time, she didn't have a lot of blood to write her message with. Finding a computer, she typed out a short message, and hit print. The smell got to her nose, and she nearly threw up. It was absolutely disgusting. Snatching the key from his hand, she walked across the way to the door to Anna's apartment, sticking in the key. It fit perfectly. After she opened the door, a small dog emerged from nowhere, growling and barking at her.

"Be quiet," Emily ordered, tossing a toy in the dog's direction. When he picked it up, he scampered off. She stalked through the house silently, going from room to room. Nothing really stood out. Everything was clean. A pile of clothes in the bathroom.

"Hurry up!" Octavius demanded. "NYPD are headed in your direction. Neighbor called in the gunshots. They're going to be there any minute."

The doorknob started jiggling. "So is she!"

Hiding in the hall closet, the door opened. Police officers opened the door, cautiously entering the apartment, guns drawn. When they didn't see anything, they left. Emily emerged from the closet, breathing a sigh of relief. That was too close.

Anna sat on her bed. The door slammed in the living room. Emotions boiled over the surface, and a mass of dark energy radiated off of her.

"Ugh!" Anna yelled out loud, sending the energy everywhere. The room shook. "Why does my life have to be so damn difficult?"

Several things were hanging off the wall. Looking at the wall, Anna stood up, placing things back on the wall. She smacked a board in the wall, and it fell off, where an envelope and a bunch of papers were hiding. She scanned the papers, and her name was printed across the top, along with several other things. One paper in particular was a birth certificate. Another was a hand written letter on faded yellow notebook paper.

"You know, someone once told me not to mess with the stitches of the past. I not only messed with them, I ripped them all out with a damn seam ripper."

Anna's head started to pound. She felt the familiar blackness start to creep into the edges of her vision. All of a sudden she blacked out, her ribcage clipping the footboard of the bed. Her consciousness was pushed to the back of her mind, and a darker, more sinister one took it's place.

"Anna?" Sam pounded on the door. "What's going on in there?"

That was the last she remembered.

**Hey you guys! So, I just wanted to let you know that moving is taking a hell of a lot longer than expected (seriously, I'm using my grandma's computer since I have no internet), so I decided to update. Please review! I will take light criticism.**


	13. Oh Boy, We're In Trouble

Anna blinked. She shook her head. Looking down, the papers from the wall were still in front of her, taunting her. Why would they be in the wall of her own bedroom?  
"Anna, you still there?"  
She looked to the door. "I need to think," Anna muttered, climbing out the window. The bottoms of her feet ached as she tread across the sharp metal. One minute, she walked over metal, next she was walking on smooth concrete. She sat down on the edge, her feet dangling over the edge.  
"Stressed?"  
Anna turned her head. Pepper stood behind her, walking across the platform with a cup in her hand. "I come out here when I need to think."  
"I came out to get away from him."  
"Boyfriend troubles?" Pepper sat down next to Anna. Anna let her head rest on Pepper's shoulder.  
"No," Anna sighed, "I just-" waving her hands around her body, "-need some space."  
"You could stay with us," Pepper gestured to the tower.  
"I would love to believe that they couldn't find me in a second," Anna replied sarcastically, checking her communicator. "See? Someone's calling me already."

Anna crawled through the window, landing on the hardwood of the bedroom floor. Looking down at the bottom of the door, Sam's feet were still casting shadows across the floor. Sneaking across the room, she made a small jump onto a chair, unlocking the door. Feet now on the floor, she threw the door open. Sam was picking at her door with a butcher's knife.  
"What the hell are you doing?" Anna asked, arching an eyebrow. She crossed her arms over her chest.  
"I was trying to open the door," Sam tried explaining, gesturing to the now broken doorknob.  
"Well you broke it, so..."  
"I'm sorry."  
"Uh-huh." Anna tapped her foot. "Let's go out and do something."  
"Like what?"  
"You'll find out when we get there," Anna said, sashaying past him. He followed her into the living room, where she plugged her phone into the speakers. "American Girl" by Bonnie McKee blasted. Anna danced around the room. "Dance with me."  
"You're serious. I can't dance," Sam pleaded, but she took his hands, spinning him around. Anna turned away, sitting on a bar stool, pinning her hair up and taking off her sweatshirt, revealing a wild print tank top. Turning around, she joined him again, smiling mischievously.  
"You can dance," Anna assured him, creating a fake club atmosphere around them. Sam wrapped his hands around her waist. "I will never get used to this. Ever."  
"Then our future should be quite interesting." *** "Sweet Jesus, what time is it?" Sam groaned, sitting up and rubbing his head. A sweet, fragrant smell floated through the air. The other half of the bed was empty.  
"Breakfast!"  
Sam jumped out of bed, bolting to the kitchen. Anna turned around, wearing Sam's button-down shirt, buttons done haphazardly. The left shoulder hung off, showing tanned shoulder skin. "Good mornin'."  
Anna looked up, a warm smile gracing her features. "Good morning to you too," she answered back, handing him a plate of waffles, rubbing the back of his hand with her thumb. "Made waffles."  
"I noticed," Sam replied sarcastically, digging into the waffles. "What's today?"  
Anna messed with her hair. "Uh, August thirty-first. I swear, I cannot remember a single thing from the middle of June to yesterday."  
"Well, then you missed the Fourth. Babe, wild night, I tell you."  
Someone knocked. "Come in!"  
Peter walked in. "God, are both of you indecent? I swear."  
"I am decent!" Anna snapped, buttoning up the rest of the shirt. "Your attitude what's indecent."  
"What's up?" Sam asked, shoveling forkfuls of waffles into his mouth.  
"Can I talk to you? Alone?" Peter replied, gesturing to Anna to leave. After she left, Peter sat next to Sam on a barstool. "Please don't tell me you two are-"  
"Having sex?"  
Peter sighed exaggeratedly. "Yes."  
"I never said we were," Sam replied, and Peter sighed in relief. "But I never said we weren't. We are red-blooded humans. You do the math."  
"Are you screwing with my head?" Peter asked, muffled by his hand. "Because it's not amusing. At all."  
"No. That's her thing." Sam snorted when Peter slammed his head on the bar. "And it's none of your business what Anna and I do. I don't question your sex life, but only because of your lack of one."  
"That's hurtful, man."  
Anna came out of her room, which was now clean. Sam's shirt was now knotted up, serving as a bolero over a black tank top. Jean shorts showed off long, lean, toned legs. "He's right. It is none of your goddamn business who he does. None whatsoever."  
"How did she hear me?" Peter asked panicky, to which Anna simply tapped her ears. "You eavesdropped?"  
"Of course not. Sonic hearing, genius. I'm just bursting with new 'gifts'." Anna crossed her arms. "And I find it incredibly gutsy you would question about our private life, seeing as how you have your own." Peter was about to be placed under Anna's microscope when her phone rang. "Hello?"  
Peter stood up, ready to go when Anna flung a hand across the room, and Peter flew back to his chair. Hitting the end button, Anna's deadly stare looked into Peter's blue eyes. "This discussion is over. You intrude again, and you will regret it."  
Peter looked to Sam. "You heard her."  
"Damn," Peter laughed. "Sam Alexander, you are so whipped I should buy you a saddle."  
"That is if you had the money."  
"I'm out!" Peter exclaimed, leaving and slamming the door behind him. Anna rolled her eyes. "I'm gonna go talk to him."

"You sure?" Sam asked, shoveling in more waffles. "He didn't seem too happy about your criticism."

"Well, he can take his opinion and shove it up his-"

"I get the point," Sam stopped her, holding up a hand to silence her. "Go talk to him."

With a swish of her jet black hair, Anna left the room, shutting the door behind her. Standing up, Sam picked up his plate and put it in the sink, then went back to Anna's room. Pulling a shirt on over his head, he then noticed a neat pile of papers on the nightstand. Walking over, picked up the one on top.

"Oh, boy, we're in trouble."

**Hey, it's me. Sorry for the- who the hell knows how long ago- late update. I moved, and my mother insists we don't have internet, so I have to work on her phone, then publish on my grandmother's computer. It is a loooong, tiring process, but I hope you like my new chapter. Don't forget to favorite, follow and review. And Kaliswag, thanks for pointing that out, but it is a crucial part of the story (keep reading Radioactive and you'll see why). I have to go for a while, but don't forget: favorite, follow and review. I'll see you all soon!**


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